It was a long-awaited, much anticipated moment, but Cameron David Costa was finally adopted into our family as of 9:30am yesterday! Leading up to the day was such an emotionally distressing time for Cameron and our family, anxiety being this little boy's kryptonite. Even at the adoption hearing, Cam was nervous, bashful, and very concerned about all the people at the courthouse that day. He even described himself as feeling "shy"; when asked what that meant, he admitted that he had no idea, but it seemed a fairly accurate statement for his behavior!
We went out for a celebratory lunch at a hibachi restaurant, which was an interesting adventure in and of itself with the kids... Baby Isaac was thoroughly mesmerized by the Asian man tossing the knives around, Taylor was focused on when her food would be done, and Cameron, although terrified of the flames on the hibachi, was far more interested in the mechanics of the table instead of the man's obvious skills with cutlery. We realized rather quickly that we would have to hide all of our knives for at least the next 6 months, just in case anyone got any "creative" ideas!
Later that evening, I heard Cameron talking in his room (to whom, I wasn't sure!), so I peaked in without him realizing I was there. That's when I saw that Cameron was not talking to himself, but that he was talking to his stuffed animals. I stood there watching as my son introduced himself to his teddy bears as Cameron David Costa. It was so sweet to watch him feel settled in his new name; a name that will hopefully begin to wash away the stigma, negative memories, and anxiety associated with his previous name. When Cameron realized that he was being watched, his shyness returned. I asked what he was up to, and he said, "Nothin'... I'm just practicing my new name for school tomorrow."
"What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet... but I have a hard time believing that a rose would smell the same if it were called a thistle or a skunk cabbage." (Anne of Green Gables... my favorite character of all time!) Cameron will always be Cameron... sweet, quirky, helpful, mischevious (especially the last one). But my prayer is that this name change that he felt important enough to practice, will be a turning point for his life, one that causes him to see himself in a new way. Cameron, you are no longer the thistle that others have deemed you, nor are you the skunk cabbage that you view yourself as. You are part of our family and you WILL NOT be seen as a weed that needs to be plucked. Cameron, you are our rose. It's time to bloom, Son.