I wrote this on May 3, 2005, just days before leaving for China. We were excited, but we knew the times ahead might not be easy for any of us.

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Welcome, Dani! Welcome to our life.

We’ve been working to bring you home since before you were born, and we’re coming to get you soon.

You don’t know us. We sent pictures to your orphanage. Maybe you’ve seen them; maybe you haven’t. But we’re going to be your family — your mom and your dad and your big brother.

You didn’t ask to be in our family. But we spent a year talking to the government, in Virginia, the US, and China. They all agreed we’d be a good family for a little girl to be a part of. Then the Chinese government picked you out just for us, and we’re very excited about bringing you home.

We’ve agreed, and the governments have agreed, but you haven’t agreed yet — but we hope you will, very soon. We hope you’ll call us Mommy and Daddy and “my brother, David”. We hope you’ll be happy when you say those things. We will try to be as loving and nurturing a family as you could want. We won’t be perfect all the time, but we’ll do our very best.

So, Dani, please give this new family of yours a chance. Let us reach out to you with loving words you’ll soon come to understand, and with tenderness and caring we hope you’ll understand right away. We’ll try to make this the last big change you’ll have to go through for a very long time.

Cry, if you need to; we’ll hold you and dry your tears. Grieve if you need to; we’ll be there when you’re ready to start a new life with us. We’d love for you to be happy with us right away, but our hope is simply that you’ll come to love us once you know us better.

We love you already.

Welcome, Dani! Welcome to our life.

We’ll come for you soon.

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