God Does Everything for a Reason

Below is the letter that I sent back to my birth father back in the middle of April.

My father, words cannot express the joy that I felt when I heard that you had been located and wanted to meet me!  It is like a dream come true.  I never imagined we would be able to meet.  Then the two weeks I had to wait for your letter was hard to bear.  I couldn’t wait to hear from you.  Please forgive the informality of my first letter – I did not know how to express myself.

My husband and I are very happy and healthy, as well as my parents.  We are all counting the days until we come to Korea.

Please do not be sad about the choice you had to make.  I believe God does everything for a reason and He blessed me with a wonderful family in Minnesota, and He was able to give you a son (and me a brother)!  I wish my brother and sister in Minnesota were able to come with us to meet you, as well.   All is forgiven and I can’t wait for the day that I can embrace you and let you know in person.

I cannot wait to meet my family – your wife, my brother and sisters and my niece and nephews.  How old are my niece and nephews?  What are their names and what do they like to do?  It’s wonderful to know I have a whole family waiting on the other side of the world. Is everyone well?

I have so many stories to tell you of my life until now.  I have been blessed with so many opportunities to travel around the world, make beautiful music, and have many friends and family that care about me.

I hope you will be proud of my accomplishments.  My music is a hobby and a joy.  I sing with the Minnesota Chorale and have performed on many stages.  I will bring some music recordings with me.  Your daughter is a classical singer who loves the orchestra and opera.  I am learning a song to sing for you and your family.

I am sad to hear about my mother.  I wish I could have had the opportunity to meet her.  I have wondered if I looked like her or if we had anything in common.  But I am overjoyed to find you!
It’s two long months before I come to Korea and I can hardly wait!  I am bursting to hear all about you and to tell you more about me.

I hope to see you very soon and I await the day we can see one another.  Forgive that I don’t speak much Korean.  I will try to learn some before I come.

I love you!
Your daughter,
Sara Ann ~ Hee Jung

I have also found out some additional information since my last post. The number of nieces and nephews in my family has grown from four to six! I also found out their approximate ages. My oldest sister, YoonJeoung, has a son in high school and a son in elementary school. My middle sister, HyeJeoung, has a son in high school, a daughter in 5th grade, and a 7-year old, whose gender I don't know. My brother, YoonJo also has a son. This seems like a LOT of boys in the family...

I finished the album that I have created for my birth father. I ordered it Monday and it already arrived today! It turned out beautiful, but I did notice a few things that I might have changed. That's the perfectionist part of me. I am also planning to print several pictures to bring for my siblings. I'm not sure the best way to do this. Maybe I will just end up creating separate smaller albums for my siblings. I can support one of my departments at work with small albums.

We are two and a half weeks away from leaving and I feel as though the day will never come. But I also have so many things to do before we go. I hope to get many of them accomplished this weekend.

32nd Anniversary

Sunday, May 1, was my anniversary of coming to America.  Thirty-two years ago, I arrived in Minnesota, at four and a half months old.  I was a chubby baby with a lot of dark hair.  My baby book reads:

First Indications: Dillon called us Apr. 29, Sunday, to tell us that Sara would arrive on Tuesday at O'Hare Airport!  We had no idea she would not be flown directly to Mpls.  After quite a panic, we asked for an escort to pick her up in Chicago.  Everything worked out fine.

Trip to the Airport: Jack met Mom and Helen and me at the airport.  I was fairly calm while driving - Mom had helped with all the final preparations Monday and Tuesday.

We Named the Baby: Sara Ann Schwebach
Arrival Time: 4:45 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 1979
Weight: 6.8 lbs (6 lbs, 13 oz)   Length: 20.8 in.
Color of Hair: Black     Color of Eyes: Brown
Pediatrician:  Friends & Relatives at the Airport: Mom, Cy, Dot, Mary Ann (Susan, Carol, Robert, Janet), Helen Kovalitsky, Marge & Don Vajda (John, Karen), Jim & Char Vick (Doug, Matt, Beth), Kathy Knutson (Katie), Diana and Mike Middleton

The Homecoming:
Baby's first day at home was May 1, 1979
Grandma Lasho was there to help.

Description and Reaction: Things were pretty hectic that first night.  We followed our child care instructor's advice and tried very diluted formula - until we realized, after several hours of Sara's crying, that she was really hungry for much more.  Then things settled down and we all had a little sleep.  She had her first bath that first evening too.  Worried about her congestion.

Photos: No one even thought of photos that first evening.  But Carol Lind did take some the next day when Sara came to the neighborhood shower with her dad.

My whole family was at the airport to greet me, as well as friends and the people who would eventually be my Godfather Don and Godmother Char.  As I was reading my baby book several weeks ago, I got choked up at all the details that Mom wrote about my childhood.  It would be something special to be able to share with my birth father.

If you started reading from the beginning of my blog, you would know that while in Korea, I was eating cooked rice gruel and half boiled yolk.  Definitely, diluted formula would not be enough for this girl!  And my love affair with food has continued to this day. 

This year, I had plans to get together with several of the girls from the Korean Adoptee Discussion Group.  The Tuesday before, we had discussed a shopping trip to the Albertville Outlet Mall.  I needed to get some shopping done for gifts for my birth family and needed some help picking them out.  When we planned the trip, I didn't realize it was my anniversary.  We met at Arbor Lakes and I found some hiking shoes at Nordstrom Rack.  At the outlet mall, I found gifts for my birth sisters and sister-in-law, niece and nephews, and one of my brother-in-laws.  I might have also purchased a Coach bag for myself for the trip and a new pair of fuchsia pink patent peep toe pumps. 

After the shopping trip, K and I went for a drink to talk some more.  I had reached out to her originally when I first started searching for some information, but she and I had not been able to connect until the discussion group on Tuesday.  She was an amazing person to talk to and we have a very similar story.  Between her and H, I have really been blessed to find some additional Korean adoptees to talk to.  I never felt a need to connect with my adoptive side in the past, but I have really enjoyed getting to know new adoptees and sharing stories, experiences, and dreams with them.  I only hope it will continue even more.

I have heard the arrival day called several names, but I grew up calling it my Anniversary.  Airplane Day, Homecoming Day, Anniversary.  No matter the name, my whole life I have celebrated my anniversary, May Day, with dinner or something special with my family.  This year was no different.  We went to my parents' house for dinner of fajitas and rice that Julie made.  From there, the entire family got together and went bowling.  (Yes, it's a miracle we could all get together at once!)  It was such a fun time and everyone got at least one strike.  Mom and Dad brought their bowling balls and shoes from back in the day.  It was a wonderful evening together with the whole family.  Then, when we got home, Nate also gave me flowers!