Holiday memories: A special delivery

Christmas 1961 was a very memorable holiday season for my husband and I. Our first daughter was delivered to us the week before Christmas.

We had applied for adoption of a child six months prior and had been waiting patiently and anxiously to find out when we would receive a child. The morning of Dec. 18, I was busy decorating the house when the phone rang. Upon answering I was informed that a 6-month-old baby girl was going to be placed in our home. We were about to become parents for the first time.

Since I had not anticipated getting a baby so soon I was speechless and thought perhaps I had heard wrong. When I was able to compose myself, I was told that she had been in a foster home waiting for the right couple to adopt her. I immediately called my husband at work and he arrived home shortly thereafter. That afternoon my husband and I went to the Nevada State Welfare Department where we met our new daughter for the first time.

Both of us were thrilled to think that we were about to become parents. It is one thing to prepare for a child for 9 months, and another to instantly become parents. The excitement and instant responsibility was overwhelming and a bit frightening. After composing ourselves, somewhat, we called our families and friends with the exciting news.

Upon arriving at the Welfare Department, we were greeted by our caseworker and she was holding a lovely precious little girl on her lap. As I looked at her cute face with her black eyes and black hair, I knew we had received the most wonderful Christmas present anyone could ever hope for. I knew I had been blessed and my prayers had been answered for my husband and I had been married five years and learned we could not conceive children of our own.

We brought our precious new daughter home. That evening we went shopping to buy her clothes and all the other articles needed to make her comfortable in her new home that first night. All of the events of that Christmas season were the most blessed as we spent time together getting to know and experience the love for our most precious Christmas gift ever. We could not have asked for a more valuable present. We have been blessed by a special child who has enriched our lives immensely. In the years that followed we adopted two more wonderful children which enriched our lives even more, yet Christmas 1961, will always hold an incredibly special place in the heart of my husband and I.

Carson City residents Rudy and Helen Moreno have lived in Nevada since 1955. They have been married 44 years. Helen retired after 23 years as a medical assistant and Rudy is an accountant and retired as assistant director for administration at the Department of Transportation. Helen has served as Nevada Day secretary and Chamber of Commerce secretary. They have three children - two girls and a boy.