One of the best things that has happened to me on my adoption adventure, is meeting some amazing adoptive moms-to-be (and now a couple adoptive moms in action!). Our agency has a private online chat group and a few of us have struck up a more personal relationship “off line.”

For me, getting to know women who truly understand what I’m going through has saved my sanity. We trade stories. We support each other and celebrate milestones. We whine and get stressed out and about the same things. Sometimes when I think: “Beth you are just so over the top on this one,” I’ll exchange an email and hear a kindred spirit say they feel the exact same way.

Their stories make me laugh or nod my head across the miles and say: “I hear you sister.” While I am so fortunate to have found Big Papa and truly grateful that he is such a patient and gracious man, there is something unique and so absolutely essential about the common bond women share. Maybe it’s just that moms-to-be are more tolerant of my excesses of emotion, or that we have parallel worries, but there is a quality to our exchange that I simply cannot find anywhere else.

I am particularly thrilled that I have a community of adoptive moms to chat with. While there is something universal about motherhood, no matter how one arrives at the destination, adoptive mothers share a perspective that is impossible to really “get” unless you’ve been aboard our boat.

Being able to write and blog about my experience and seeing the way my thoughts resonate with others, has also been tremendously helpful.  I try to express my experience honestly, and it is one of the best ways for me to process what I’m going through.  There are some aspects I have not been able to write about publicly, or at least not in real time, when I am in the throes of it all. Having a cadre of fellow travelers behind-the-scenes gets me over each hump. When I have significant news to share about our adoption, I share it first with this stalwart group of gals.

With the exception of one of our cohort who lives about fifteen minutes from us, most are on the east coast and we have never met in person. No matter the distance, our bonds to one another provide a safe haven from the storm that is the journey to adopt.

So thank you to each and every one of you magnificent mamas. You know who you are. I wouldn’t have made it this far without you, and I look forward to sharing all the excitement in the years to come.