Officially Stubborn

It’s official.

Both boys are now officially stubborn.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, our last name means stubborn. Yes. It does. Really.

Anywho, yesterday Jeremiah was officially adopted.

He didn’t attend the ceremony, Just Hubby and I went. Jeremiah didn’t want to attend because he is a very self-aware child and he let us know way ahead of time that if he went to court he would feel like he would need to test to see if we would really go through with it and cause a big scene. So, we respected his wishes and left him and Gabe at home with Auntie Rachel and our best friends E and T, and their lovely children, our godchildren.

We traveled a good 5 1/2 hours through beautiful countryside with cherry and apple stands every other driveway. The tribal court was a little hard to find, but we managed to be the first ones to arrive. I loved looking around the courthouse at the different decorations and posters on the walls. They had a series of parenting posters that were in English and Chippewa encouraging parents to talk to and listen to their children, to hold their hands, hug them, and show them they are loved. I found them very interesting, and it made me want to ask about them in more detail, so if there are any of my Native friends out there that would like to enlighten me on the cultural implications, I would be grateful.

Anywho, court went smoothly and was quite nice. It was more formal in a lot of ways than Gabe’s was. The judge read through more of the formal proceedings and actually heard testimony from Jeremiah’s GAL, the People’s lawyer, Jeremiah’s worker, and then our worker. They all said over and over how glad they were that this child has found a family, and how much he truly wanted to be in one. That made me feel good. The people’s lawyer said that he got choked up when he looked over at us holding hands, and that he had a hard time not losing his composer.

It made me feel good to know that these people, who often get criticized of simply being a part of “the system”, genuinely cared about the best interest of Jeremiah and wanted to see him in a good family, and that they felt WE were that family.

It was good.

Anywho, all was signed, we shook hands with all, I asked a couple of questions about the decorations on the wall of the court room, and off we went.

We ate at an overpriced “grill” that had a good crab-cake sandwich, but not much else. But at least the state will be reimbursing us.

At this point, Hubby was not feeling well. He had not been feeling well all day, sinus stuff, but now he was getting light-headed and dizzy. So I drove.

I didn’t really feel any different after the ceremony. We called Jeremiah at the restraunt and to tell him all was official, and he cheered. But that was pretty much it. The biggest thought I had was that I am relieved that I won’t have to ask permission for traveling out of state any more.

The reason I am guessing I wasn’t thinking much of it is because Jeremiah has been my son for nearly a year now. I have never considered him my “foster son” or anything less than my son, so yesterday was just a confirmation of what has been. Of what is. So, good job, Michigan, you finally caught up!

So now continues the journey. I am so curious to see where God will lead our family this year, how He will shape us. Adventure.

As for Jeremiah’s response, well, let’s just say that he had a GREAT day yesterday, but had to do one very specific big “no no”, just to make sure nothing had really changed. That we were still who we’ve been. That we could really be trusted. And yes, we came through on that.

So here we go, continuing on our journey. Our new normal. I wonder how long that will last.

Blessings!

Hannah

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