A Priceless Friday Afternoon Visit

We haven't seen Brook since Squirt was born.  We hear from her via email every now and then and we send photos every few months, which has been great.  6 hours is quite a distance, so we haven't been able to see each other face to face.  Until last Friday. Brook had a couple friends driving to Denver to pick up a friend from the airport and asked if she could ride along in hopes that she could meet up with us.  I got her email at 6:30am that morning and we started making plans to ensure we could connect.  Tim and I both agreed that we couldn't pass up the chance to see Brook and let her lay eyes on how beautiful Squirt is and what an amazing life she created. 

We met at 2:00 at a local mall that wasn't too far out of their way for the airport.  She was sitting outside Macy's waiting for us when we walked up.  Tim carried Squirt up and Brook's face immediately lit up.  How could it not?  We chatted for a bit and then went into the mall to let Squirt play on the kids area.  Which, of course, was being cleaned and was closed for all monkey business.  Perfect. 

As we walked in, I heard my name and smack in front of us were Dude's cradle care (foster care) parents who took care of him for the week in between us bringing him home.  Haven't seen them in 4 years.  Weird?  Uh huh.  Super weird.  Naturally, I tackled the awkwardness that could have resulted and introduced everyone as themselves to make the whole situation appear totally normal and every day.  Anyone listening as they passed by was most likely looking for the reality TV cameras.  I love that about our story.  No one else shares the paths that brought our family together.

We hung out in the middle of the mall for 30 minutes and watched Squirt run around like she owned the place.  Brook never stopped smiling and just kept saying, "She's sooo cute!"  We told her as much about Squirt as we could and I asked Brook a lot of questions about herself growing up and compared notes.  I want her to feel like she's a part of Squirt.  Because she is.  And I don't want Brook to feel like an outsider when she's around us.  Because she isn't.  Squirt will know what a blessing Brook is to our family and what an angel she is for the decision she made to give Squirt a life that she couldn't offer.  In our eyes, Brook is as beautiful as they come.  And her beauty is reflected in the face of our baby girl.

As we left, Squirt finally agreed to let Brook hold her and they stood together for about 5 minutes.  Just soaking each other in.  It melted my heart and I have a very strong feeling it melted Brook's too.  She had her friends take a bunch of pictures on her phone and I sent her all the ones from our camera too.  These will be awesome shots for Squirt to have as she gets older.     

At Squirt's birth we gave Brook a necklace with an "R" charm on it, of which I have a matching one.  She had it on that day.  As did I.  It's so surreal to us that this young girl (and Dude's birth mom) are so attached to us and yet so far away at the same time.  But we hold that little "R" in common and know that our precious girl will be a bond that we'll share for a lifetime.  And that every time we see Miss Brook, we'll both wear our necklaces with love and an understanding that two women can hold our Squirt dear to our hearts, from near and from far.  Please say prayers for our Brook.  We want all of the best that life has to offer for her.  How could we not?  Just look at what she did.