It finally happened.

We met with Tracy today and it was a beautiful meeting.

We arrived a little early to the zoo and stood outside the gates waiting for Tracy to arrive.

Little Bug, oblivious as to what was about to happen, kept looking up from her stroller and saying, “Animals!”. She couldn’t understand why we weren’t going on in to do what we came to do!

It wasn’t long and I spotted Tracy making her way to the front entrance where we stood.

She immediately came to me and gave me a big hug and then what I had been longing to witness, finally happened.

I stood back and reminded myself to take in every detail.

Tracy turned to Little Bug and with a huge grin on her face, she knelt down to Little Bug’s level and saw the baby girl she had not seen since she was a tiny five pound newborn still in the hospital. Tracy gently reached out and stroked Little Bug’s hand.

There was joy written all over Tracy’s face and there was complete joy flooding my soul at the sight of all this taking place.

We headed into the zoo to see the animals and Little Bug was relieved that we were finally going to get down to business!

The rest of our visit was spent enjoying a moment in time together as we all watched the one child who unites us all.

At one point I asked Tracy if she wanted to hold Little Bug. She didn’t hesitate to say yes. Little Bug went right to her. Several times after this you could hear Little Bug say to Tracy, “Hold!” and Tracy would pick her up and hold her.

Tracy’s heart is so beautiful. She told me over the phone before our meeting that seeing Little Bug again was only going to serve as confirmation to her that she had made the best decision when she chose an adoption plan for Little Bug.

We all play different roles in Little Bug’s life. Dave is her daddy, I am her mommy and Tracy gave her life. A sense of complete respect for those differing roles was extremely evident as we walked the zoo together today.

I called myself “Mommy” to Little Bug as Tracy stood by and Tracy referred to me, on several different occasions, as “Mommy” when speaking to Little Bug.

God is so full of surprises. If you would have ask me, right after Little Bug’s birth, if something like this would take place, I would have told you, “Maybe when there is a blue moon.”

It just didn’t seem possible, but, today, here we are.

I love that today happened because when my daughter starts inquiring about her adoption, I will be able to tell her about today, and as she grows older and starts understanding more and more of her story, she too will understand what a miracle today is.

When God opened our hearts to adopt, I had no idea that I was really opening up my heart to a love so big, so wide and so deep.

It’s love for a precious little girl who is my daughter and love for a precious woman who has become my friend all wrapped up together reflecting the love my Savior has for us all.

It’s adoption and it’s beautiful.

<p><a href="/1DB25B0C4C9C4FF725BBC44D009EECCD22E13F05/images/2011/01/DSCN7544.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="DSCN7544" border="0" alt="DSCN7544" src="/1DB25B0C4C9C4FF725BBC44D009EECCD22E13F05/images/2011/01/DSCN7544_thumb.jpg" width="244" height="113" /></a></p>

- Elaine