Ten Fingers and Ten Toes

this daily blog is
from sandie
one of our new Night Owls!

it just seems to me
that "everything happens for a reason"
so true!

Ten Fingers and Ten Toes

by Sandie

My husband came home from work one day in March 1995 and said that he was being offered a three-year position in South Korea. He asked how I felt about that. I was terrified. Our boys were four and six at the time, perfect ages to take a tour . . . but Korea? I had visions of Mash running through my head. But we went. Little did I know that it would be one of the most special times in our lives.

My husband and I were thrilled with our two little boys and had decided that we were not going to have any more children. But one day in about the middle of our three-year tour, a friend asked me if I ever regretted not having a third child. I told her that I sometimes did, especially since I had always wanted a little girl. My husband overhead that conversation and later told me that he had been thinking the same thing. He asked me if I wanted to adopt a Korean baby. I was on the phone with the Korean adoption agency the next day.

Since it was a “local” adoption, it was a much easier process than adopting an Asian baby from the States. But, it wasn’t so easy for us. We were told that my husband was one month past the age limit! He had just turned 45. Well, I wasn’t about to let that stop me! I visited that orphanage every week, and soon got to know the ladies working there. They would roll their eyes when they saw me coming and chatter in Korean—I’m sure about the lady who couldn’t adopt but wouldn’t go away!

One day I met a Korean woman who knew of a different orphanage and she said she would be willing to take me there. This orphanage had babies but could not process the adoption paperwork—only the orphanage I had been talking to could actually do the adoption process. But, we went anyway.

My husband and I met with the head of the orphanage who told us that he had a six month old baby girl but she “was not perfect” and that we should come back another time. We asked to see her. My husband picked her up and as they looked into each others eyes, he said, “This is her, she is ours.” She was beautiful—she was perfect. She was missing a finger on each hand—she had a thumb and three fingers on each hand. We honestly didn’t give it a second thought.

After lots of pleading and me running all over Seoul with special paperwork, the other adoption agency agreed to take our case and by Christmas she was home. She was 7 and ½ months when she joined our family. And we have never looked back. She is our angel.

So whenever I hear a new Mom (and you hear it a lot in movies and on television) say that she first made sure the baby had ten fingers and toes, I shake my head. You see, our little girl is just perfect with eight.