She had us at "Hello"

May 28, 2009 was a memorable day for our family, to say the least. It was the day we received a blessed phone call. The day we saw a precious smile. The day our hearts were stolen (never to be given back) by this baby girl, Rediet(meaning "Blessings")...
You can read about it here. One year later, that same girl sits on the couch where we first saw her face...
She plays with the phones we received the momentous calls on...
Today she is more than a darling face, she is our daughter and we delight in her...
Sigh.

But as always with adoption, there are two stories. Halfway around the world a grandmother, fresh with grief, relinquished her beloved to an orphanage. And then on May 28th, a family exuberant with joy, had a face to put to their dreams. I will never be able to comprehend how these both live in tension. But they do. And they must.

Her name is Luci May Rediet Kollar. She is named "May", not just for the incredible day when saw her face, but for all that the month of May means in her life, as well as ours. The loss and the beauty. The joy and the pain. Relinquishment and adoption. May is the month she was relinquinshed...

And the month she was matched with us and we with her...

Both are a part of her, though neither define her. And every step of the way she was held. Not just by her Ethiopian Mommy, her Ethiopian Grandmother, the caregivers, and us. She was held by a God who sees and who cares.

And He saw fit to allow us to hold her in our hearts and our arms forever. May 28,2010: not just loved from afar, but held close and dear...