In September of 1999, almost a year to the day we started our application at Cradle of Hope, we returned from Guatemala with our 10-month-old son, Ronal. The nervousness we felt in anticipation of the trip was unfounded. All went well. Our son is now 2½ years old and doing great. I believe the genuinely warm and loving ways of the Guatemalan people - especially those of his foster family - are responsible for his warm and loving personality. One of the most common questions we get from people we meet is "how long did it take for him to adjust?" The answer is easy - "about a day." The first afternoon was great as our coordinator, his wife, daughter and our son's foster mom all were with us when we met Ronal. We all sat in the lobby of our hotel as we went over our paperwork and asked questions of the foster mom. Later that evening, when we were alone with him and changed his diaper, he just sobbed. I think he realized we were different people. It was a tough evening. Thank God for cable TV which finally distracted his attention. But the next morning we had to be up early and off to the American Embassy, and it as if we had always been a family. The next day the flight home was actually fun, with Ronal bouncing back and forth between us looking out the window or playing with any button he could touch. He even fell asleep during takeoff and one of the landings. Pictures from that first week at home with him show how at ease he seemed.
Today he is a loving, charming, feisty, vivacious toddler. He does most things WITH GUSTO!! He loves his Daddy, Momma, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and the feeling is quite mutual. He loves his daycare and seems to be quite popular with the other kids. Ronal loves to sing, look at books and play with his toys or go outside. He has a fondness for animals, plants, flowers, and especially bugs of any kind. As his daycare teachers put it - "He is 100% boy!"