court

It's true. The only glitches were technical communications ones--me forgetting to take a laptop from school, no phone in the flat, and my mobile only able to dial phones that had previously called me (and that was after the director of our school had fiddled with it. Before that it wouldn't call anyone!)

One other communication glitch was that I thought I'd been told I'd receive a transcript of the court proceedings. So, I didn't pay much attention to what was being said, thinking I could read it later. Really, I don't remember much of what was said.

I was calm and confident. Starting the night before, I was just joyful and peaceful. I could feel myself being lifted up by hundreds of prayer around the world. Thank you. It was a precious gift.

I'd been telling people that I really didn't think there was anything to worry about--that by this time so many people had reviewed my paperwork, that the judge herself had asked for more, that I didn't think there would be any problems. The wonderful Olga told me the same thing, so it must be true.

Court lasted an hour and 45 minutes. I had the court laughing a couple of times, which was nice. It was me, the judge, the prosecutor, a recording secretary, the social worker and my translator. Most of the time I remembered to speak English. The prosecutor, according to my translator, was tougher than usual. The social worker was fantastic! She was the one who had amazing things to say about me and really argued on my behalf (even though she was seated at the prosecutor's table).

At one point, the prosecutor muttered that "This child is practically healthy." The social worker is the one who made her look back through the photos and see that the emotional health of this little bunny had improved dramatically because of my visits. She argued strongly that I was uniquely qualified to parent this little girl because of her background and mine. She really was great. (At one point, when she was talking about how many Russian families had declined to meet her, and how it would not be possible to find her a Russian family, she was listing the dx and casually added, "She is not beautiful." Feeling the glances from the other people present darting my way, I gave an exaggerated face of indignation, drew myself up and lightly pounded two fists on the table. The court enjoyed it and was smiling and laughing. The sw, to her credit, drew people back to the pictures and pointed out that the smile and the sparkle came after I'd been spending time with her. Once again--we heart sw'ers.)

At the end, after I'd heard everything (including one disturbing surprise--but not nearly as much information as I expected to be given in court), the judge asked me if I still wanted to adopt this child. Kонечно! I replied. Of course! After about fifteen minutes, she returned a verdict in my favor. Afterwards, the judge told me I was a very warm, very open person. She said that I filled her court with sunshine and asked me to return.

Hmm...

(How obvious is it that my translator that day is NOT a good photographer? Yeah.)