The red thread of destiny

Today I came across something that struck a chord with me and it is the concept of "the red thread" of destiny. An ancient Chinese proverb speaks of the silken red thread of destiny which connects one person to another. This magical cord may tangle or stretch but will never break. The ancient Chinese believed that when a child is born an invisible red thread connect that child's soul to all those people - present and in the future - who will play a part in that child's life. As each birthday passes, those threads shorten and tighten, bringing closer those people who are fated to be together.

As I approached my mid 30's, I felt "the clock" ticking away. For years, I had not wanted children although Scott desperately did. I always felt that if I did decide to have children that I wanted to adopt a child from Poland. When the alarm went off, Scott and I discussed whether to have a biological child first and then adopt or vice versa. Should we adopt two children or one? Which agency should we go with? and so on. As time passed, we moved at snail speed (over a year) to complete the necessary paperwork. Finally when everything was ready, we submitted our Dossier to Poland. Within 4 months, we had a referral of a 15 month old girl. Sadly, there was no connection and Scott and I decided to refuse the referral. It was very hard to turn away a little girl who needed a home. More time passed and while sitting in a hotel room, I came across a picture of a little Guatemalan girl up for adoption. She was so CUTE!!! I called Scott from the hotel and said, "Let's adopt a child from Guatemala." Scott said, "OK." It was a definite out of the blue, spontaneous decision.

Fast forward to August 17th 2007. We got a referral of a little girl. They gave us a birthdate, a name, and said she has lots of black hair and her eyes are open in every picture. We said, "OK" without a second thought because it felt right. I am a true believer in the red thread. There is no doubt that Cecilia was born for us! Her personality is out-going and her humor dry. (hmmm... who else has a dry sense of humor???) She connected with Scott immediately which was a big surprise considering his appearance is the antithesis of everything Guatemalan. Being with Cecilia is as natural as breathing and we could not have birthed a child more fitted for us. Now for those of you who are waiting for me to get pregnant... it is highly unlikely at this point as I no longer have the desire and... I will be 40 this year.

OK, back to the Chinese belief... As each birthday passes, those threads shorten and tighten, bringing closer those people who are fated to be together. She just had a birthday and we are so close to being brought together and weaving her red thread into our family tapestry forever!