Before We Knew You...

*editing to protect privacy

Thanks to all of our family and friends who have written to Tamene. I know there are more coming but I wanted to post these to get started.

Legacy of an Adopted Child
Once there were two women who never knew each other.
One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.

Two different lives shaped to make you one.
One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.

The first one gave you life and the second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love. The second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality. The other gave you a name.
One gave you a talent. The other gave you aim.

One gave you emotions. The other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile. The other dried your tears.

One sought for you a home she could not provide.
The other prayed for a child and her hope was not denied.

And now you ask me through your tears,
the age old question unanswered through the years.

Heredity or environment, which are you the product of?
Neither my darling. Neither…Just two different kinds of Love.
Love from your Great Aunt Wally

- Wally, thanks so much for this touching poem, how perfect it is. I hope someday it will help to respond to those inevitable questions. Thank you for your support and love.

Dear Tamene-

As our family eagerly anticipates your arrival we think about you every day. We check your mom's blog everyday for updates and clap together when there is good news!! We pray for you that you will be safe, happy, and healthy until you are with us and we are able to see this for ourselves. I pray that the woman who brought you into this world will have peace in her heart and understand truly the generosity that she has given to your new family and the people that are a part of their life. I also pray for your mom, dad, Angelisa and Naven that they are able to have patience in the anticipation of your arrival.

I don't think that there words that capture the joy we feel as we await you coming into our lives. I want to tell you that I have known your parents for about ten years(wow) and Angelisa and Naven all their lives:) This is an amazing family that is going to take wonderful care of you! I have always been able to rely on your mom and dad for whatever I have needed in my life. They have cared for me and my family unconditionally. There are so many moments in my own life that I could not have got through without your mom. I am so happy that you are going to be able to a part of the this family and the circle of family and friends that they have created.

Welcome Tamene--I promise you that this journey for you will be nothing short of wonderful. Jody & Paul & Carter & Isabela Christensen

Jody, thank you so much for your sistership. Thanks for being witness to my life and this journey. You too have been an important source of support in my life, I am glad our paths have crossed.

"Tamene, I have been praying for you before we know who you were. There have been many prayers surrounding you and uplifting you. Your journey has just began. Your new home is very different from the home you have known so far. Hold precious in your heart the home you've known, and rejoice in your new home and surroundings. God has great plans for you. We shall continue to lift you and your family up in prayer and are eager to meet you face to face. Many blessings on your journey in life."
Barb

Barb, thanks for your support and thanks for sharing your "Best Woman" you have no idea how much she has helped me. Thanks too for your support (work and personal) in the last months. I cannot wait for you to meet our little boy, I know you will share in our joy!

Tamene,
Hey little man how lucky you are to be part of the Peterson family. The Lord is so great to provide you with wonderful family and friends that love you so much. And the world is so great to give you the opportunity to experience life so large and full of joy.
Oh how I can't wait to finally meet you!
bcopsey

bcopsey, thanks for being such a great friend! We have grown up together and I feel that we are family. I am so glad we were able to share in our "hobby" this summer, a great time of bonding. I am so incredibly proud of all your hard work. You inspire me!

BEFORE I KNEW YOU

On December DAY*,YEAR* in City*, Wisconsin , I gave birth to an 8# 6oz baby girl who I waited most all of my life to see. I dreamt about her from the time my body could produce a child. In middle school I drew pictures of what she might look like and ran thousands of names threw my head trying to think of the PERFECT NAME FOR HER ALONE. In the 9 months she grew in my body under my heart I wondered if she would be smart ,friendly and outgoing?Would she be a people person? Would she be Funny? Or Serious? Would she be perfectly formed? Would she be rebellious? Would she love me as much as I LOVED HER BEFORE I KNEW HER? And in my last trimester I even wondered if she would be a gymnast because she did constant flips pushing off my ribs and causing my bladder to tremble.
It was a very Snowy December and I kept debating if I should put up a Christmas Tree or not. Would I deliver before Christmas? Would I have a Christmas baby? At the last minute I asked my brother Pete to take me to my grandfather’s house to get a tree stand, I would have a Christmas tree to bring my little baby home to. He gave me a Very Bumpy ride saying we will bump that baby out of you. When we arrived at grandpa’s house I went in the basement to look around for the tree stand when suddenly I felt as if I wet my pants. I was sooooo embarrassed. I didn’t even feel as though I had to go but there I stood with wet pants in a puddle. I went upstairs to get Pete to take me home to change when who came through the door but my (ever absent in my life, once in a blue moon father) He took one look at me and said “ Your water broke”! I didn’t feel any pain at that time but by the time we traveled the 7 or 8 miles to Hospital* I was feeling my baby push her way into the world. Eighteen LONG HOURS LATER, there she was.
Kamille Middle* Last*. Kamille for her grandfather in Turkey. Babe* for my mother ( a family tradition of all first daughters having their middle name being that of their grandmother.) She looked rough. A broken blood vessel in her eye from pushing so hard to get into this world. Scrapes on her face and very red hair. Her father took one look at her and said, I really wanted a boy!! It took him until he actually held her in his arms to get over that and he adored her then and adores her more today.
At home she was the best baby. Waking only to eat. Not fussy. In the morning when the sun shinned in through the window by her crib she would smile and stretch. I called her my SunShine. And 34 years later she Still is MY SUNSHINE. She grew to be the best daughter anyone could want. She gave us absolutely no disappointments. She always set her goals and achieved them and more. She is Awsome. A perfect gift of God to us and her name bears that out(Kamille-perfect attribute of God).When I became pregnant with our Son I worried if I could Love him as much as her and if my relationship with her would change because of having 2 children? Aren’t Mother’s silly? God gives us a heart just like his that loves all our children if they are 1 or 12. The Love just keeps S-T-R-E-A-T-C-H-I-N-G to cover all her children.
Then came Kamille’s children Angelisa Denise and Naven Henry. The Love in our hearts streached and covered them. And from the moment they were born it was as if they were always a part of us. Somehow they were there in our hearts even BEFORE WE KNEW THEM. They are a Joy to their grandmas and grandpas. They didn’t grow in my tummy but they grew in my heart and I wondered all the same things. Will she be pretty. Will she have Great hair for Grandma to comb. She didn’t have a lot at first. What kind of person will she be? What kind of boy will Naven be? Who will he look like? Will he be a happy boy? Will he like to hunt and fish? What things will interest him? (He is the Apple of Grandpa Sam’s eye)
In November of 2007 Kami and Trent told us at Thanksgiving that they planned to adopt a child. At first my heart started again. Is this the right thing to do? How will it affect Angelisa and Naven? Your lifestyle is so busy. Is this the right thing to do? Then Grandpa Sam and I went to a church in town and there was a family with 3 biological children and they adopted 2 children, a boy and girl from Liberia, and the Spirit of God moved on our hearts. Grandpa Sam couldn't stop crying. The sermon was about marriages and there sat grandpa Sam with tears running down his face. ( he said I think everyone thinks we are having marriage problems) But God increased our Heart and our Love and a little boy named Tamene began to grow there. We started to wonder all the same things about you. Would you be a boy or girl? How would you look? Would you be healthy and a happy child? We couldn’t wait to see a picture of you as soon as Kamille and Trenton said this is the boy God sent to them. This is their new son. When we got the first pictures it was like looking at an ultrasound picture. A new life, part of us. A new grandchild to love. When I saw your big dark eyes and your ear to ear smile I just couldn’t wait for you to be born into our family. Our hearts began to Love You Before We Knew You. I told everyone at work I have a new grandson and grandpa Sam put a picture of you in his wallet with Angelisa and Naven. Now Tamene we wait, and wait and wait. It isn’t so long but it seems long until you get here. We pray for you daily. For your safety and happiness and pray that God will put love for us in your heart. That you will feel like we are your family because God has knit our hearts together. We don’t know at your young age all that you have experienced good or bad but we know your birth mom loves you very much to want to give you the best chance in life. We promise her and you we will do the best we can to fill up your heart and life with Love and a Good Family. Sometimes life isn’t perfect but God will carry us over what ever lies ahead and Love covers everything.

Love and Kisses Grandma Lovey and Grandpa Sam oxoxoxox

Grandma Lovey and Grandpa Sam, Momma and Daddy. I love you both so much. Thank you for your support and unconditional love. I couldn't ask for better parents or a better life. I appreciate everything you have done for me, I am grateful and I feel blessed. I know I keep you both on a roller coaster in life, with all my ups, way-ups and sometimes downs. Daddy, thank you for making me feel like a princess all of my life. Thank you for making Seneca and I the center of your world. Thank you for all of the sacrifices you made in your life to offer me the opportunity to be successful in my life. I recognize those sacrifices and I appreciate them. Thank you for the integrity, ethics and values that you have taught me to make me the person I am today. Momma, Thank you for being a role model of a strong, independent woman. Your unconditional love for me, my husband and our children is amazing. Thank you for teaching me to stand up for what I believe in. Thank you for showing me how to be a loving and protective mother to my own children. Thank you for being a mother and a friend. I know you will be happy in my happiness and sad in my sadness and there is nothing more I would ask from you than that. Again, I love you both, and know that you both love me in the most amazing way. With infinite gratitude in advance for the many years ahead of love and support that you will provide. I love you both and hope that what I do makes you as proud to be my parents as me to be your daughter. - not to mention it appears my writing skills may have been inherited from my mother, thank you for this beautiful letter to my son.

My Dearest Tamene and 7th great grandchild; I cannot wait to meet you, hold you, spoil you, for I love you already. In everything I do you are in my thoughts. When I first knew you would definitely be coming into our life and family the thought that constantly runs thru my head is; I WONDER...When I talk to your mom my conversation is, I wonder; How are you going to react the day her and your daddy get there and can finally hold you... Are you going to stay with them while they are in Ethiopia going thru the final stages of bringing you home...Are you going to be afraid of an Airplane...Are you going to be afraid when you see a television...are you going to be afraid of your brother and sister, who look and talk different than you...are you going to be afraid when you see a bathroom inside a house...are you going to be afraid of the toys that walk and talk by themselves...Your mom said to keep this short but if I would have to write everything- I WONDER- about it would almost be a book. As we all go thru our daily lives I WONDER how many could put them selves in a position of thinking, If I were to go thru this process would I ever think of how many thousand things there are to deal with and WONDER...Inconsequential things, that we don't even think about. I see your beautiful smiling face in my mind and heart, Tamene. Until we meet----I LOVE YOU!

Great grandma-babe

Grandma-Babe, I breath deep knowing there are not words to describe how much I have enjoyed taking this adoption journey with you. I have been so busy and worried about the details I sometimes forget to focus, I mean REALLY focus, on the little boy whom this is all about. I know that if I call you, you will remind me of his smiling face and every little detail about what you imagined his day to be. Checking in with you, is like checking in with him at the end of the day. "How was your day Tamene?" And surely you have wondered and encountered every detail he has encounter. Surely you have imagined his routine and every new and wonderful thing he has encountered. Thank you for everything you have done to bring me up and make me the person I am. But on this journey thank you for being the voice of my little boy!

to be continued...