Today was custody day for Coppelia Jiyun. Always such a hard day, and the day isn’t over year but I just got her asleep in the carrier so I’m going to take a quick moment to introduce her to everyone before she wakes up again.
Mom and I started the day after breakfast walking around the Olympic Park because it is just a few subway stops away from the agency that Coppelia was at. It was so different than when Clint and I walked around it in February. For one thing it wasn’t freezing cold and the other is that spring has sprung here in Seoul and everything was blooming and just beautiful. Lots of flowers everywhere.
We headed to the agency and got there a little after 11, custody time was set for 11:30 but Coppelia and her foster mom and dad were already there. Coppelia recognized me but was quite happy to stay in foster mom’s arms and play with foster dad. Foster mom brought a ton of things to give to us for her. She gave us a bunch of clothes, toys, food, snacks and her hanbok. I had a photo frame with a photo from Coppelia’s first birthday with both her foster parents and a note for them thanking them for the love and care that they have given her these past number of months. They both started crying when they read it. We played a bit longer in the play room and then it was time to go. Foster mom just held her and cried and cried as did foster dad. They loaded all the bags on the elevator and then handed Coppelia Jiyun to me as we got on. She screamed and cried the whole way down and pretty much the whole 30 minute taxi ride back to our hotel. She refused to eat anything and just kept pointing at the door. She’ll go back and forth between mom and me to whoever she thinks might take her to the door and outside to go back to foster mom. We decided because she was just screaming and crying to put her in the carrier and go for a walk. She seemed to calm down a little with that, and even though it was raining we had a good walk along the stream. She finally fell asleep and so we headed back to the hotel but when I tried to lay her down she woke and started crying again. Just got her asleep in the carrier again, hopefully after a good nap she will feel a little better. I know her little heart is broken and she doesn’t understand what is going on. She was so well loved and cared for by her foster family. One day at a time, she will soon learn that we are her new and forever family.
Hiking Mommy 