Most of you who are reading this blog know about our long and ardous process in trying to get legal guardianship for Jay. Our case went into the Kolkata legal system on June 25th 2006. The normal processing time was from 1 to 2 months.
On July 18th , we got word that our case was approved. We were ecstatic. That meant we could travel even before we thought we could. We could pick up Jay in Sept, he would be 9 months old then... We started planning for our baby shower. We ordered our crib, and started decorating our nursery...
A few days later, we got the news that even though our case had been approved, the judge had left his office and there was going to be a new judge. The case had not been signed yet, so the approval meant nothing.. But the Indian orphanage assured us that the signing would happen soon, it usually did.
The new judge came in and did nothing for a whole month, and then he quit! Our case was still not signed.
The second week of August, there was another new judge. The orphanage said that they knew this judge and that he would work quickly. Our case was on the top of the list followed by Sreyoshi's case.
We got to know Grace's family those few months. We'd call each other every day and pray. We'd pray that the judge would pick up our case and sign. All we wanted was a signature.
The judge did NOTHING!!! He'd go to work and do NOTHING!!! I could not believe that there was no process or control over this process, wasnt there somebody who was supervising this judge?
Finally, on Nov 7th, the judge said that he'd hear our case. He was going to hear Jadyn's case on Nov 8th. We waited... We didnt hear anything on the 7th or the 8th. On the 9th, we heard that our case was not heard because a lawyer had died and the court was closed. I know I should feel bad for the attorney's family but I couldnt believe it. He had to die on my court date??!!!!! What was this- the whole world was conspiring against us getting Jay. WHAT?????
By now, I was not doing so well. I'm not a patient person by nature, and this was pushing me to the limits. At work, I was finding it harder and harder to deal with the pressure. I had no tolerance for anyone who was not doing his/her job. If I could, I would have flown to India and wrung the judge's neck. I would call the Dillon office and ask for information every single day. The Indian orphanage said that they planned on complaining to the high court but they kept stalling on it.. I wanted to know why.... The only thing that kept me sane during those times was my Lenin (he is so good for me) and my daily prayers with Grace.. When I questioned God's intentions at this time, she would keep me straight.. And when she would get depressed, I'd try to perk her up..
Finally the judge decided to move his BIG BUTT, and schedule court dates for cases. Unfortunately, it looked like he took the stack of cases and turned them upside down. So those of us who had waited the longest, had dates way later and those who got into the process late, had dates earlier. The first case was heard and approved on Nov 20th. They got signatures the next day. We prayed that the judge would continue. He didnt.
We had always prayed for a miracle and here was one. The family who got their signatures that day hadnt even had their referral when we first went into the court. But God had decided that it was time for them to get their child. And we still had to wait. It was very hard. I was happy for them but it was not fair, we had waited the longest. How could God do this to us? I prayed for a long time with Grace that day. And Grace, if you are reading this, I want you to know that I could not have done this without you.
The orphanage finally decided to go to the high court. I called the Dillon office and said that I wanted to write a letter to the high court judge. Even though the attorney was going to represent our case, he was going to represent the entire orphanage and he didnt care which order or when cases were heard. I did. So I got with Grace and another family who also had approvals, and drafted a letter to the court. We each presented our own unique situation and this letter was given to the High court judge. We didnt know exactly what this would achieve, but we hoped that there would be some influence placed on the judge.
Finally we heard that the judge had given us a new date on December 14th. We hoped that nothing bad would happen on that day, no lawyer or judge deaths, no bombs, earthquakes, nothing.. we wanted a perfectly normal day. The next day, Lenin while perusing through the Indian newspapers found out that there was a scheduled strike on December 14th. WHAT?? I had to scream into my pillow. This was NOT HAPPENING. I made a few frantic phone calls, we needed the date changed. The Dillon representative also had a long talk with attorney (she told him about our case in particular, how our paperwork had been in process for the longest time and that it was going to be expiring soon). She basically gave him a boot up his (ahem). He promised to get our case heard the next week. He seemed quite sure (how come, this didnt happen sooner is what I want to know).
On Tuesday, December 12th, our case was heard and approved. FINALLY!!!! On December 15th, our case was signed. Finally, Jay was legally ours... OURS!!!. Another bit of good news, Grace's case was heard and approved too... God is AWESOME!!!
I still hated the judge. Jay turned 13 months on December 15th. The judge robbed us of those months in Jay's life. I would still like to get a hold of him, and slap him silly.
