Happy Birthday Caleb, and more about Court

First of all: Happy Birthday, Caleb! Today our youngest nephew becomes a double-digit boy and we hope he has a great day that exceeds his expectations. Interesting that on this date Brian and Christine became parents of their third child, a son, and today the court has ruled that we also shall be parents of a third child, another son.

For those who appreciate routine and consistency I’ll start at the beginning of the day: alarm set earlier so I could get in my exercise. We ate eggs and yogurt in the midst of other morning preparations. The washing machine never did drain last night.

I wore my “court day” blouse and skirt so have now used every item of clothing I packed for the trip. Sergei picked up the orphanage “Deputy Director of Medical Affairs” (who represented the interests of Daniel and the orphanage at court) at her home then stopped by for us. We were at the designated spot two minutes earlier than arranged (8:35 AM), but they were even earlier. It must have only taken ten minutes to reach the court because on arrival (8:45) the guard inside the door said we would not be permitted inside until 9:00. A few more people gathered to wait - many court workers were admitted into the building. Almost everyone from young to old wore blue jeans. John saw our judge from Nick and Dennis’ hearing go inside.

Promptly at 9:00 the rest of us were allowed to enter. Just inside the entryway was a metal detector. We all passed through and no one seemed take any notice of the various sounds it emitted. We had to show our passports and presumably Sergei explained the specifics of why we were there before we could pass through a security turnstile. At the judge’s door we were told to wait. Another case was called in ahead of us and then we were instructed which courtroom door to enter. The court secretary took some information from Sergei, the Inspector and the doctor before the judge and the two jurors entered. Having two jurors present at an adoption hearing is a new law since last round. Sergei had explained some of the things to expect, let us know some of the questions that might be asked and had given us a cheat sheet of what to say (exactly) when asked what we were asking of the court (although they had the written petition in hand). Everything was handled in a formal and professional manner. Our documents were carefully reviewed by the judge and jurors (one sat on each side of her). They reviewed our adoption of Nick and Dennis, seemed pleased with the (many) photographs we brought, asked if we understood all that was happening, what our rights are and that all court participants could have written or recorded copies of everything that happened today, if we each supported our petition, to explain ourselves (jobs, care arrangements for the boys), if we understand Daniel’s medical diagnoses and that they will require a lot of work, etc. One juror asked if we spoke Russian - how would we communicate with Daniel? John said (in Russian) that he understands a little Russian and speaks Russian badly, then demonstrated some of the phrases we have learned to interact with children. They smiled/laughed and agreed that we can communicate at the level of a young child. Then they retired to the judges chambers to deliberate.

We stood as they returned, and the judge formally gave the ruling of this court of Ukraine that our petition had been granted to adopt Daniel and to change his name to Daniel Alexander Thur. I honestly hadn’t expected to feel so emotional. I had been viewing this day as just one more formality, one more step in the whole process, not really such a big deal, but as it became clear that the ruling was in our favor the tears started pouring down my cheeks and I couldn’t stop. John was crying, too. The younger juror looked up at us a few times and smiled. It is a day we have been praying for now for almost three years “Please let Daniel be part of our family.” (Oops - the faucet just turned on again.) The judge and jurors graciously agreed to a photograph and the judge told us in English that she was glad to meet to meet us and shook our hands. The doctor and Inspector swiftly headed down the stairs while Sergei took care of a couple details with the court secretary. The doctor was still riding with us, but the Inspector had departed without a chance to say “good-bye”. We were back in the car by 10:15.

We took the doctor back to the intersection near our apartment where someone was waiting for her then we stopped quickly at the apartment for my computer and the Internet device so we could post to the blog. At the orphanage they were just taking Daniel off to therapy and we told them to go ahead. The therapist said she could see improvements in him since we have come - he is more relaxed and is saying more words, although they can’t understand them (English!). We told him ‘hello’, gave hugs and kisses and said we would see him later. The director was too busy to see Sergei today and the secretary said she would remind her about talking to the inspector and urged us not to press our case with her today. Okay!

Still not even 11:00 - a great time for cappuccino and pastry. We tried a different roll with chocolate. Sergei had the pig-faced one that contained pork (he asked for me and the proprietor replied in English). He checked with the tax ID place - still not ready - also contacted the apartment agency and let them know about the washing machine. He dropped us off at the apartment and when back to the orphanage to find out what time we could have a party for Daniel’s room on Monday and what we would be allowed to bring. Before 1:00 he let us know someone would be by soon to take care of the washing machine and that we could have the party at 10:00, juice and fruit would be okay, cake and ice cream would not. Oh, well.

Tonight we are having dinner with Sergei and his wife at an Uzbek restaurant so I may not journal anymore tonight.

A happy, happy day!

Oh - and Sergei suggested little Kharkov’s nickname be “Kov”, since this is also close to the sound dogs make in Ukraine.