Love, Marriage, Family, Repeat

Here comes the judge

A day after we got back from the gravesites, we were called to court for the final adoption process. We did not tell the girls what was going on. We entered the largest courtroom in the courthouse. The judge called Beth, Kate, Lisa and myself up to the bench. As we made a line, through the doors came family members, grandparents, cousins, some friends from school, the minister from the church we had started to attend, and even most of the school's faculty. It was crowded. The judge banged her gavel and showed a faux scowl.

She said to the assembled, that next to weddings, this was her favorite job as a judge. The judge had all the friends and family stand and raise their right hands. She made everyone swear to help and protect this new family before her. She told the guests to sit down.

She next talked to the girls and asked them to swear to keep being the wonderful children that they were. She then spoke to Lisa and me; it sounded like wedding vows, but in this case it was Mommy and Daddy vows. Both Lisa and I had tears running down our faces, I would not be able to tell you the judge's exact words, but we both said, "We do."

The judge made a flourish of handing a number of documents to us, even the girls, and said, "I now pronounce you a Loving Family!"

I wish I had the Kleenex concession because everyone was crying happy tears, including the judge and the clerk. The judge had signed and dated them on our anniversary.

Twenty years later...

Beth went into nursing, and is a nurse practitioner in pediatrics. Kate went into teaching, and became a math teacher at her big brother and sister's school.

Well... us? We have retired and are chasing our six grandchildren around in the Central Arizona Highlands.

When the grandkids go home, Lisa and I sometimes say, "Who would have thunk it?"

Whenever we now get frisky, we hear the song 'Love is in the Air'.

The End

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