Sitting down with family and going through photo albums together feels nice! The older they are, the better. Our favorites are the photos of the first smile, first moments outside the orphanage’s walls, our first trip with a borrowed stroller down the Red Square, first bump on the nose, first swim in the sea.

What is a family? Is it a community of people who stand by each other for better or worse? If they are lucky, they make each other happy. Family ties are normally based on honest and open relationships. Is a family with adopted children any different from a family with biological ones?

Families with adopted children don’t have photos of pregnancy bellies or the maternity hospital. So what! We started out differently. Therefore, the book which introduces our children’s first steps must also be different. I wish I would have had such a book when my husband and I adopted a child. Maybe we could use it to preserve bits of memories that are now long forgotten.

I'm glad that the book is written by Katarina, a young woman with a personal experience of adoption and who is familiar with other adoptees’ stories. She knows the questions an adopted child asks himself/herself growing up. I believe this book will help everyone in recording all the precious moments of the first years spent together. Those moments remind us time and time again how beautiful life is.

Mateja Gris, adoptive parent