Adoption Update...
On April 13th the Central Authority held a meeting. We had to wait awhile to hear of the result of this meeting. We got word last week. The meeting was held at the National Council for Children and Adolescent and was attended by the Executive Secretary of the National Council for Children and Adolescents and the Central Authority of Ecuador. The directors of the orphanages and members of the Family Assignment Committees of Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca and the members of the UTAs of Quito were also there. At this meeting the Executive Secretary apologized for what has happened in the country's adoption program. She indicated that this government's intentions are to make the adoption proceedings transparent and to discover the critical challenges that adoptions face in the country and then overcome them. It was indicated that it is the first time in the country's history that the institution of adoption has been taken so seriously and it is hoped to leave in quite strengthened, but that they cannot ignore that these process always take time, during which there will be challenges and victories, and they definitely consider that there have been more victories than challenges. They said that it has been very important to make administrative changes because the personnel that forms both the DNA and the UTSs must be qualifies and knowledgeable and that this process has been very difficult. They also mentioned that the guidelines for the process of suitability of both national and international families are still being reviewed. They indicated that one of the strongest and more critical points are the proceedings that must be followed to clarify that children's legal status and that in the next few months it is hoped that this process will be administrative and no longer judicial, and that INFA will be the office in charge of this part of the process, and that the staff has already been hired and the are being trained. Additionally, they reiterated that the judicial adoption proceedings will only be carried out in Quito, the capital city. In order to implement all these changes, the Ecuadorian Congress will have to approve the legal reforms. A new project of law has already been submitted to the Ecuadorian Congress. Once the Congress approves the reforms, the CNNA will start implementing the changes. Of course there is no time frame of when this is going to happen. They have said that they will have a big national committee meeting this month at which they hope to assign the children who are waiting.
We have no specific new about us. The agency tells us to continue to be patient. If there is one thing that this process has taught me it is how to find strength, patience, and comfort in knowing that it is all in HIS hands.

Capone

This week we had to say good bye to Capone. He was not eating and was really tired so I took him to the vet last week. The vet did an ultrasound on his heart and what he saw was not good. His heart was not working the way it should. We always knew that Capone had heart problems. These heart problems lead to Capone being diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure a little over a year ago; the vet gave him about three months. Even though we have had many scares with him, he had been able to live out this past year happily. The vet has dubbed him "The Miracle Cat". We have been committee to do all we could for Capone as long as we knew that he was happy and in good spirits. I'm sure that there are some people out there that thought we were crazy for all we did for him. The people working at the pharmacy got to know us well and would always say that Capone was "one lucky cat". I feel like we were the lucky ones.

Capone went from a skittish cat living on the street to my inseparable companion. I am so glad we made the decision to take him with us when we moved up to Michigan. He was there for me all the nights Giovanni was gone traveling for work. He was there to make me laugh and smile when I felt like crying. He was very special! He was not the type of cat that did his own thing. He was constantly by my side or under my feet. The last couple of days have been hard. Every time I turn around I expect to see him following me. Every time I sit on the couch I expect him to crawl up into my lap. Every time I wake up in the morning I expect to feel him cuddling next to me. And as much as Giovanni hates to admit it, I think that he misses Capone too.