Two Firsts

It was odd, to say the least, sitting in a hotel’s restaurant on my first Mother’s Day, trying to communicate with my newly adopted three-year-old. (The pictures prove, however, that she definitely enjoyed what might have been her first ice cream cone.)
—Pam Robinson

Dads for a Decade

I was a single, gay dad when I adopted my daughter a few days after her birth. On our first Father’s Day, when she was almost one year old, I took her to her favorite park with a man I’d been dating for several months.

This year, my partner and I will be celebrating our tenth Father’s Day together. Doing something special outdoors has become our family’s tradition.
—Barry Ross

Christmas in May?

I woke up to a view of snow-covered mountains after having barely slept from all the excitement — it felt more like Christmas! My husband and I were in Russia, north of the Arctic Circle, and we spent the day visiting our soon-to-be daughter, Karina. My husband had bought a Mother’s Day card in the U.S. and had Karina “deliver” it to me as she crawled around the visitation room. It was a truly amazing day.
—Joyce Bouchard

An Angelic Tradition

Our kids (biological siblings from Russia) hadn’t known each other until we adopted them. On our first Mother’s Day together, we lit an angel-shaped candle and told them that an angel led us to them. We plan to light a candle for their birth parents every year on this day to remind us of their beginnings.
—Deborah Mumm

Fast-Track Fatherhood

My husband, Scott, celebrated his first Father’s Day rocking our four-day-old daughter as she cried during our entire first night together. She was born in Las Vegas, so “up all night, sleep all day” seemed appropriate.
—Elaine M. Lane

A Mother-Son Day

My husband was called away to a conference at the last minute. I barely stirred as he left for the airport at 6 a.m., but woke to find a beautiful card on my bedside table. My son and I spent a relaxed day doing things three-year-old boys enjoy, including a celebratory fast-food dinner. Not what I would have chosen, perhaps, but a pretty neat Mother’s Day.
—Sharon Mosher