The Greatest Gift: The Story Continues
by Betsy BuckleyFrom a recent phone call to the director of the agency who helped place our son, I gained meaningful insights into the life of a very special person who was touched by adoption. It began with my asking about the health and well-being of our son's biological mother.
"Did she receive the pictures of Michael we sent over the Christmas holidays?" I asked rather nervously.
"Yes," the director replied. "I personally took them down with me to the Hogar in Guatemala. Our Hogar is where she and other birth mothers can come and get information about their children who have been adopted. Michael's mother came in just before Christmas." I immediately began wondering what she looked like, what kind of woman she was. "Were you able to take her picture so that we could share it with Michael?" I asked.
"I did ask her. But she said maybe next time she comes into the city. In her culture, it is believed that if you take a picture of someone, you take away part of their soul. She had traveled a long way to get to the Hogar that day in anticipation that perhaps some information, a letter, a picture, a little momento might be waiting for her. You would have thought that I had given her the moon when I handed her the pictures of Michael. You should have seen her face - she was beaming... Then she knelt down and began crying. I asked her why she was crying and she said to me, 'These are not tears of sadness, they are tears of joy. You have given me the greatest gift.' And I said, 'No, it is you who gave the greatest gift.'"
By now, tears were streaming down my cheeks and onto the telephone receiver. It struck me profoundly that unconditional love never dies. What else in life has so much power?... As I hung up the phone, visualizing the images created by our conversation, I asked God to bless our son's Guatemalan mother on that day and to fill her with a resonating peacefulness in the decision she made. I routinely continue to pray that every night when she lays her head down to sleep somewhere in the Guatemalan countryside, hundreds of miles from our home, and cultures apart, that she finds comfort in knowing that we are forever connected to her through her giving us, truly, our life's greatest gift, a son.
"The Greatest Gift: Reflections on International and Domestic Adoption" by Betsy Buckley
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