The last few weeks have been a bit rough for me and my wife. We are in the process of adopting our first child from Ethiopia -- a process which has been dragging on for just over 25 months now. We were slated to have our court date in Ethiopia on May 8th, at which time the adoption was to be finalized and we would have legally be the proud parents of Grace Tsedenya.

Unfortunately, the Ethiopian First Instance Court has temporarily stopped accepting cases involving abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa (the capital city), citing concern over a recent increase in the number of abandoned children being brought for adoption. The number of abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa has grown dramatically in recent months, and Ethiopian authorities apparently have become aware of possible cases of unethical practices associated with some of them.

As a result, we were put in limbo once again -- not sure as to what would happen or when. Until yesterday, neither of us had had a “good day” in the last 10 days or so. While depressed may not be the right word -- we’ve definitely been down and certainly agitated. Just when we thought the end was in sight (had we passed through court on the 8th, we likely would have been flying to Ethiopia next weekend to bring her home), we experience a set back like this…

So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I went to the mailbox Sunday evening and found a box from one of the BOTLs on this site -- not only were there some quality cigars inside, but there was a nice note as well. It made my day, my wife saw that it made my day and it made her day too. We spent the rest of the evening out back by the fire talking and smoking -- it was great night. It is amazing what a simple gesture can do -- thank you, Will/badwhale.