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Recently, after a long and stressful foster care journey, my wife and I finally got to adopt our daughter. She’s 5 now and has been with us since she was 3, although it feels like she’s been our family all along. She’s smart, sweet, sassy, and hilarious. We adore this kid!
We’re from a small town where adoptions (the actual court proceedings) have historically been very informal and not a big deal. Our daughter is old enough and cognizant enough to understand most of the situation, especially the part about us becoming “forever family” and we (including her counselor) felt like that point should be emphasized and celebrated. We (mainly my wife) put together an adoption ceremony that would rival some weddings I’ve attended! The three of us did a sand ceremony, which we keep on display at home. Around 40 friends and family attended and at the end, our daughter led everyone in a toast (her idea) of sparkling grape juice as the Judge declared us legally family and announced her new, legal name. It was beautiful, we all laughed and cried throughout and I think it absolutely helped our daughter feel more secure about her future.
My sister in law was kind enough to record the ceremony on her iPhone for us. She shared it with us by an iCloud download link and later deleted it from her phone. Understandable, the file would’ve been huge.
Well, life happened (close relative hospitalized, everybody got sick, work got crazy busy) and the following month flew by in a blur. 31 days after the iCloud link was sent, we try to download it. The link expired the day before. It’s also permanently deleted from my SIL’s phone. No trace of it in an iCloud backup. Nothing. Gone. Gone gone.
I am sick over this. I’m sad and embarrassed and and angry at myself for not prioritizing saving the video right after she sent it. For something to mean so much to our family, I didn’t treat it like I should have. Please learn from my mistake.
I don’t think anything can be done at this point but if anyone knows a way to recover this video, I’d be grateful for any suggestions you may have. Thank you!
TL;DR I failed to save the video of our adoption ceremony before the iCloud link expired and now it’s permanently deleted.
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