This is the 16th installment in a series of columns I am devoting to the adoption journey my wife, Claudette, and I started in 2005. Hank Bond, publisher and editor of the Greenup Beacon, asked that we share our story with you. Maybe you have an interest in adoption or know someone who does. If so, I hope this information is helpful. We adopted our daughter, Josie Claire Siyan, from China in 2007.

While in China, we communicated with our friends and family members via a website we set up prior to leaving for our two-week journey throughout China.

In a post titled “Friday in Nanjing with Josie!,” dated Feb. 1, 2007:

“Before we begin today's post we want to thank Tim Steele, friend/co-worker of Claudette's twin sister Paulette, as well as Connie Snyder (hope I spelled it correctly), a friend of my Aunt Bonnie, for notarizing documents for us during our adoption process.  I told Claudette before I began that post that I would inadvertently omit someone who was important to our process.  And I did.  My apology!  Claudette was asleep when I finalized that post.  Again, many pieces of paper out of the overwhelming number of documents that we had to prepare had to be notarized.  We thank you both for your help during our adoption process.”

“Today was a very good day for Claudette, Josie, and me.  We (Claudette, Josie, and me) started our morning with a one-hour web cam chat with Papaw Terry (my Dad), Papaw Larry (Claudette's Dad), Mamaw Patty (Claudette's Mom), our niece Brittany (Josie's only girl cousin on Claudette's side of the family), Paulette (Claudette's sister), Tanner (Josie's cousin), Brock (Josie's big brother), and Blake (Josie's other big brother).  We had a great time seeing everyone and they enjoyed seeing their granddaughter, cousin, niece, and sister!  While we miss everyone very much, we especially miss Josie's big brothers--Brock and Blake--and love them very much.  We cannot wait until we are home with you guys!”

“We then had breakfast here in the hotel.  Josie enjoyed pancakes and scrambled eggs.  She loves eggs.  We then visited a large fresh-water lake in Nanjing.  On the way there, we went through an underpass/tunnel that goes under the lake.  Josie thought that was neat.  Once there we enjoyed a nice walk.  It is very sunny and clear today, and warmer than yesterday.”

“After the park we visited the Nanjing museum, and saw many artifacts that were made in this province in the various dynasties throughout history.  After the museum we stopped at a ‘mall,’ a very interesting concept here in Nanjing.  It is like a big marketplace with people running to and fro.  It was extremely busy.  But then again, when the city has over 5 million people, it has to be very busy!  In contrast, Beijing has around 14 million people.  I bought us another suitcase in which we'll bring back the goodies we've bought during our stay in China.  We also asked John, our guide, for some American food for lunch today.  So, Josie got her first dose of McDonald's today!  And I mean to tell you, it was DELICIOUS!  We loved every bite of our Big Mac!  And Josie loved her hamburger.  She ate all of her burger by herself, ate her fries by herself, and enjoyed some soup.”

“We're now back in our hotel room until dinner, which we'll eat at one of the restaurants downstairs.  Josie is watching some kids' cartoon that is in Chinese.  She's clapping, dancing, and singing.”

“Thanks again to everyone who has posted and those who continue to post again.  It means so very much to us to be able to hear from those we love while here in China.  It's kept us from getting nearly as homesick as we would have otherwise.”

“Before I close, we just experienced a major breakthrough!  Josie gave me one of her M & M's!  She's been so ‘stingy’ with giving things away, especially to Daddy.  She just gave me one and I also got a hug and kiss out of the deal!  This sure beats when I was kissing her during the first couple of days and she would whine and rub her face like it felt funny!  Overall, she has done wonderfully adjusting to her new life.  We give God all of the glory for that.  Thanks for your prayers.”

“We leave Nanjing tomorrow during midday and fly to Guangzhou, where we'll stay through Thursday morning of next week.  We look forward to getting there because it's much more ‘American’ than Beijing and Nanjing, and it is full of American couples with Chinese babies!  We'll feel right at home there!  AND Claudette looks forward to a major shopping spree there!  It is also much warmer in Guangzhou, very similar in climate to Miami, Fla.  We can't wait!  Plus that means the second ‘leg’ of our trip has come to a close and we're working on the third and final ‘leg’--one additional step closer to going home to the U.S.A.!”

Terry L. Hapney, Jr., Ph.D., is a professor in the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Marshall University, and an eastern Greenup County native. He may be reached at hapney@marshall.edu.

Here's a shot of the lobby of our hotel in Nanjing, Jiangsu (in China).


Josie waits in the lobby for John to pick us up for yet another day of touring Nanjing. We received several nods of approval from older Chinese women because we had Josie dressed so warmly.

We visited a freshwater lake in Nanjing.