The Poe Family: Oh Joy! We Have New Friends!

The world has a funny way of getting really small sometimes. And of course, the internet and sites like Facebook [which I love and am obsessed with] keep my world nice and small and I like it that way! But this post is not about social networking...

Another world-shrinker would have to be adoption. I mean, before we adopted I felt like we knew very few people who had done it and now? It's like everyone we know is adopting! We also know a lot of families who are doing Ethiopian and African adoptions which is great since we really want Desi to have friends who she can relate to and share her adoption experience with. And it looks like she's going to have plenty of friends just like that! [not to mention a couple of solid prospects for a future husband!]

I think it's incredibly amazing that Desi's crib-mate at the orphanage in Addis was adopted by our good friends, the Fousts! And now she gets to grow up with this little cutie!

This week we made a new friend...make that, new friends. This new friendship came about after my world started shrinking and shrinking and shrinking! Here's how it went...

After we were about a year into our adoption process I found out that one of my good friends, Ali, from my hometown in Missouri was also adopting from Ethiopia. We were using Bethany Christian Services, they were using Holt. We traveled to get Desi in late July, they traveled to get their little guy in late August. At some point Ali had told me that there was a family from our area that was in her travel group....

Well, not long after I got home I got a message from a work colleague who knew of our adoption. He said that his wife had a friend who had recently returned from picking up her son from Ethiopia and he wanted to pass along my info...I said, sure! All I knew was that her name was Joy and she had my info.

The wheels in my brain started turning and I wondered..."what if this could be the same person that Ali knows?" so I emailed Ali and asked if her travel cohort was named Joy. Wouldn't you know? It was! This had to be the same person. Small world, eh? I still didn't have Joy's info but I was hoping that she would contact me. What a crazy coincidence!

Some time passed and I hadn't yet heard from this Joy. So one day I show up at my dentist appointment and my friend, Shannon, is there. She just stopped by to see her mom who works in the dentist's office. We are chatting for several minutes before the receptionist interrupts us and asks me if I think that I have an appointment. I'm like, "uh, yeah." She checks....I'm a week early!! I'm not suppose to be there. Before I go, Shannon tells me that she has a friend in her Bible study who recently adopted from Ethiopia and that she told her about me. I say, "Is her name Joy?" and she tells me it is! I'm like, "seriously! This girl just keeps dropping on my radar! I have to meet her! I think it's meant to be!"

When I got home I emailed Ali and told her I needed Joy's info because I was going to contact her! I had to! Well, I got in touch with her and found out that she had been having the same situation where people were telling her about this girl named Shannon who adopted a little girl from Ethiopia....isn't it hilarious?!

We finally got to get together last week and it was so fun! Since it was the snow week from hell I had to take all 3 of my kids to her house! [I was a little worried that we might not get invited back! after a whole week stuck in the house together the kids were starting to act like wild animals! They did great, by the way] Turns out that Joy has 3 kids herself and they were each one perfectly matched to my kids so everyone had a playmate for the play date!

[side note: Joy has an awesome play room! My kids were in Heaven!]

Her little guy is so sweet and handsome!