Feeling a little bit guilty...just for a second

We've been having so much fun here that I started to feel guilty, then I thought about how we all got here...

• We started the entire process over 3 years ago
• We've waited 2 years "in line" for Claire
• Then we had to wait over 3 months from when we found out about her until when we traveled to China
• We traveled almost 24 hours on 3 different planes to get to China, with one flight being almost 12 hours (imagine 12 hours on a completely full, cramped plane in the center seats)
  
• Then we had to wait another 3 days until we got to meet her
• Morgan had to wait over 9 years to get a little sister
  

And then I thought about how Claire got here...

• She was born 3 1/2 years ago
• She was abandoned at 1 day old, left very sick and found by the police (she ended up getting pneumonia at 7 days old)
  
• She waited 3 1/2 years in an orphanage (although her caregivers loved her dearly and cared for her the best they could, it's still an institution)
• Then she had to travel 2 hours by train across the country side into a BIG city to meet us
• And she had to be pulled away from the only life she knew, away from her friends and loving caregivers

After thinking about our respective journeys I now don't feel so guilty. I think we deserve to be here in this wonderful tropical city of Guangzhou, China in this very nice hotel, The White Swan, feeling like we're having a family vacation that we were always meant to have. I don't feel so guilty that Claire is having her first bath, her first swim in a big pool, her first visit to the zoo, her first dinner out in a nice restaurant. That guilt disappeared in a split second. --- Melissa