Adoption conference

I went to an adoption conference today. I was there with many hats on-- as a therapist who works with foster children, as a member of our local child welfare board (who I'm so thankful to since they paid for me to attend this), but most of all, I chose to go as an adoptive mom. It's the first time I've been to an adoption conference and the most excited I've been about a training in awhile. The presentations today were good and definitely got me thinking. I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow, just wish I didn't have to drive quite so far to get back there again. (I was stuck in awful traffic on the way home and nearly ran out of gas, which is sooo not like me...)

The final presenter today was the director of the agency we used when we fostered and adopted Payton. I had never actually met her before, but had heard good things about her and enjoyed her presentation. After it was over, I took the time to go introduce myself and say thank you for her part in making us a forever family. She took one look at my nametag and knew exactly who I was and could even identify what neighborhood I live in even though it's nowhere near where we were or where she lives. That's just one reason why we loved our agency. It's been almost a year since we've had any official contact with them, but I was still treated like family by this woman I'd never even met. I'm always telling people what a great experience we had with them and we will definitely use them again when we're ready to grow our family.