Happy Thanksgiving

Today I posted most of this message on the yahoo Single Kaz Mom group I belong to. I wanted to share it with you, to give you an idea of the bonding that goes on among those of us who are in the process:

I'm going to get sappy of all of you now, so brace yourselves.

Today I was thinking about what I am thankful for this year and immediately this group came to mind. At this time last year, I had still not made the concrete decision to start the process. And now, 11 months since I started my process, I find myself "surrounded" by some of the most interesting, brave, and supportive women I know. I don't post very often, but I follow the boards daily and I am so struck by the outpouring of support that can be found here. After all, no one understands this process quite like we do. It's exciting, terrifying and beautiful all wrapped up in the ultimate package of a Kazakh peanut, no matter what their age.

I have made some lifelong friends on these boards and I can't wait to actually meet all of you and watch our children play together. Thank you for rallying around my mini-meltdowns and for readily offering advice at the drop of a hat. I hope to be as helpful to newbies once my process is complete.
Since I won't have time tomorrow to post this, I wanted to say today that I am most thankful for all of you this year. I wish all of you the happiest of Thanksgivings and for those of you who are still in process, blessings for a continued smooth process.

With love,
Andrea

Now, for all of you, I want to add to this. I have been shown more love and support this year than ever in my life. As many of you know, this is a huge statement, given what I have been through in the past few years. People have come out of the woodwork to show their support for this process, my dream, in ways which have touched me at my deepest core. THANK YOU for be such loving people and for showing me in every possible way that Lily will not only be loved by me, but by everyone in my life. It is so special.

I am so thankful for my family, who have seen me through some very rough times and who have always sacrificed to help me in any way they can. This I especially true of my parents and grandparents. I don't quite know what words to use to express how much I appreciate everything everyone does for me. This is actually more meaningful than you know, because me not having words is quite unusual. All I know is that if I can provide half of the love and support I have received when I am a mother, it will be enough to sustain an entire army of children! I feel very lucky, indeed.

So with that, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. For some of you it will just be another holiday season. For others, it will be your first with your Kazakh-American child. And for the rest of you, I wish you blessings for a continued smooth process. I think of you as often as I think of my own process and have my fingers crossed for all of us.

Happy Thanksgiving.