I was sitting in a wi-fi cafe in a Seattle grocery store during a visit to see my brother when the call came. It was May 11 — Court Day — and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Keri deGuzman’s name in my caller I.D.
“Keri?” I said. “Tell me!”
“Well, I’m the proud mother of a girl…and almost a boy,” she said. A paperwork technicality was holding up formal confirmation of the son she and her husband Brian are adopting from Ethiopia. The judge approved both cases that day but one of the family members who showed up in court was missing an I.D., which had to be presented before the case could go through.
“When did you find out?” I asked. In the background, I could hear the early morning commotion of her two preschool-age children, Jesmina and Musse, who also were born in Ethiopia.
“Yes, I’m turning on the TV,” she said patiently. “Hang on one second. Yes, I’ll get you a blanket. “
Returning to our conversation, she told me how she’d bolted out of bed that morning to check her email. Ethiopia is nine hours ahead of Phoenix, so she knew that whatever was going to happen had already happened.
The news that her daughter — I can now tell you her name is Tesfanesh — had sailed through the process was a tremendous relief. Her son — I can now tell you his name is Solomon — was expected to clear court that Friday.
“It’s a big morning for us—we’re excited!” she said. “But I just want Friday to be over with. I want it to be definite. Tess is done, a definite.”
Her new daughter is “the biggest baby I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Keri said. “Her cheeks are so big that her eyes look like they’re closed!” It was a big change from the first pictures she received, when Tess was first left at an orphanage in Sodo.
When Friday arrived, I kept checking my cell phone, hoping for confirmation that Solomon’s adoption was final. When I got home shortly after 5pm and still hadn’t heard, I left Keri a voicemail. I knew she and Brian were headed out of town the next day and I also know that they have a lot of friends and family members higher on their list to notify. So I didn’t want to bother them. But I couldn’t stand it.
Within seconds, I got a text message back from Keri:
“Everything was approved!!” she wrote. “It’s official!!! [We’re] at Jes’s dance recital. Will catch up next week.”
On Monday, Keri copied me on the official announcement she sent around to loved ones:
“Last week we were finally approved in court in Ethiopia officially as the proud parents of Mintesinot Solomon Brian deGuzman and Tesfanesh Brian deGuzman.
“They are both almost 6 months old! They are waiting for us in the foster home in Addis Ababa and are getting lots of love and attention! They are happy and growing well!
“We now have to wait for the US Embassy in Ethiopia to give us their visa appointment. We are anticipating that it will be in about six weeks. So we will be traveling the end of June or beginning of July to Ethiopia to bring these two little miracles home!! Jesmina and Musse are very excited and are asking every day when they are coming home! Thank you for all your prayers! We shall keep you posted of our travels!”
She signed it with “much love [from] Brian, Keri, Jesmina, Musse, and SOLOMON & TESFANESH too!!”
When we travel to Ethiopia in six weeks or so it will be the height of the rainy season and is apt to be cold, wet and muddy. I don’t think any of us will notice.
