Within a few weeks of the tragedy, Linda brought up a subject that surprised, touched and astounded me at the same time. She asked how I’d feel about adopting a child, and in particular, a girl from China. It was something we had never talked about before. My God, I thought to myself, we just lost Daniel, how could we think about adoption?
Adoption became a hot topic full of spirited discussions, mostly due to my resistance, which grew from my concerns with the timing, the expense, delaying our eventual retirement, and y our age—we were both 47 at the time. Might this adoption draw much needed attention away from Christie?
On the other hand, we were both in good health and Christie liked the idea of adoption. So, over a period of a few weeks and at least a dozen discussions, my objections disappeared. We felt a child would give us hope in the midst of despair, and that it would be a tribute to Daniel, not a cloaking of pain. Our adoption would be part of our remembrance of Daniel. We felt the time we would have spent with Daniel could instead be spent helping a child in need.
Why a Chinese adoption?
Linda had her heart set on an infant or toddler because she wanted to make more of an impact on the child over a period of time, and she feared taking on an older and perhaps troubled child who might have emotional issues at a time we were so emotionally fragile ourselves.
At our age, it would be difficult if not impossible to adopt a baby or toddler domestically. Chinese adoptions were more accepting of adoptive parents so long as they were under 50. And most Chinese adoptees were girls, which would avoid any possibility of a boy somehow being “compared” to Daniel. We completed our adoption paperwork in the summer of 1999 and then underwent social worker visits. In September of 2000 we were notified that we had a match for adoption. We were sent three photos of a 10-month old girl named Liu Hai Xing and asked if we “accept” her. Just one look and we said “Yes!”
Linda, Christie and I then made a two-week trip to China in October 2000, along with 19 other adopting sets of parents. We had a great time in the four cities we got to visit while there.
there, top center, without Christie.
Her given Chinese name is pronounced “lee- oh high sheeng.” Liu refers to the name of her city (Liuzhou). Hai Xing translates into “ocean star.” We combined the two words for simplicity. We chose to name her Madeline HaiXing Mauser. Christie chose the name Madeline, saying she liked the name and wanted a name starting with “m.” But it wasn’t until a few months later that a friend asked us if we chose the name because of the letters. We didn’t know what she meant. “Well, if you scramble the letters in Madeline it spells Daniel,” she pointed out. My God! It’s an amazing coincidence that still brings a huge lump to my throat every single time I tell the story.
She has been a real blessing in our lives.
Daniel Mauser Memorial Website 