Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

This afternoon I had to pick up our 'newly issued copies' of our Marriage Certificate for our dossier.  The process of getting them was simple and relatively inexpensive.  I exited our County's Register of Deeds office with a spring in my step and a song in my head.

        "These are the people in my neighborhood, in my neighborhood, in my neighborhood...

        ... they're the people that I meet, when I'm walking down the street, they're the people that I meet each day."

This 'neighborhood' does not consist of the houses up/down the hill from us.  Nor are these people necessarily even people I've met face to face.  This neighborhood is comprised of people we've 'met' during the adoption process thus far.  And what great people they are!

Since this post was triggered by the ladies at the Register of Deeds office, I'll give my first shout-out to them.  They are efficient and friendly.  The Notary at our Credit Union also falls into that category.  I've had telephone and email contact with several families who have used our adoption agency.  They are wonderful.  They've provided insight into the process that can only be shared by those who have walked this road ahead of us.  Additionally, many have offered to be resources as we continue this journey.  These are people who are taking time from their own family to help us expand ours.

There are individuals/families out there that have a soft spot for Down syndrome/Reece's Rainbow kids.  Many know the joy of a child with Ds; all are advocating for these kids.  We follow each others' blogs and I've already received encouraging words from some of those Mommies.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention our Social Workers Jenny and Lauren.  Each has a very different yet equally important role in our adoption process.  They are working tirelessly to complete the documents needed to get our invitation to visit our little guy's country.

And so, "...These are the people in my neighborhood.  They're the people that we'll meet, while we're adopting from EE, they're the people that we'll meet each day."