We learned more about Jeremy today, from Susan, the county social worker who chose our profile as a potential adoptive family. For the first hour (that seemed like an eternity) Susan insisted on talking about us. I suppose she had to perform her due diligence, and, as she confessed, she just likes being curious and nosy about people. We patiently obliged her, but of course we were there to do one thing -- to talk about Jeremy. We learned that Jeremy's birth mother loved him enough to get to a hospital to give birth in a safe place, and that the staff at the hospital took Jeremy under their protective wing. We learned that Jeremy was born healthy, that he was 6 pounds and 1 ounce and 20 inches long. He was cared for at the crisis nursery until he was about 10 days old, at which point he went to Dolly and Bruce's house, the foster family who loved him until now. We learned that the court had ordered that a permanent adoptive family be found for Jeremy as soon as possible. And, best of all, we learned that we had been selected by the social worker as that family, and that, if all went well, we could bring Jeremy home next Tuesday. Susan showed us a "picture" of Jeremy, which was a underexposed, badly focused Polaroid reproduced on a poorly maintained government color copier. We arranged to meet Jeremy tomorrow morning.

At this point, the planning and other phone calls began in earnest. Barb & I each spoke with our fabulous employers about Jeremy and reducing our schedules so that we can be at home with Jeremy for at least six months. Angie brought us baby bath tub, and others began showering us with clothes and other gear that modern day babies seem to need. We continued to have amazing and passionate dialogue with all kinds of people about parenting, about Jeremy, and about the challenging and rewarding road ahead. Could it really be true? Will we be parents, at long last?