After three years, the day had finally come. Courtney Gilmour and her husband Tom were finally able to able to adopt their foster children Janielle, 12, and Elijah, 10.
“We knew quickly that we wanted to adopt them,” Courtney told HUMANKIND.
However, things didn’t quite work out that way.
“But sometimes the system doesn’t work as fast as your heart works.”
Since the Gilmours had to wait such a long time, they decided that they would make adoption day a special event. So, they decided they would plan a trip to Disney World and surprise their kids with the news when they got there.
Courtney tweeted a photo of her family, with a Disney hashtag. Disney saw it and immediately reached out the family.
Lots to celebrate!!!! #adoption #disney @WDWToday 1st time for our kids❤❤ pic.twitter.com/TVDcrTJsLZ
— C Gil (@shewillrise81) April 11, 2017
Disney arranged a special meet and greet for the Gilmours and Courtney had a great idea.
“I thought, ‘How cool would it be for Mickey to hold up a sign telling the kids,” Courtney told KTLA.
The kids were excited for that special one-on-one with the famous mouse.
“You’re here!” Mickey said. “Hiya Pal! Nice to see ya.”
Janielle and Elijah were posing for pictures with Mickey when a Disney employee held up the sign that Courtney made.
“Your Adoption Day will be May 24th, 2017,” the sign read.
When the kids spotted the sign they were overwhelmed with joy. Janielle buried her face in her hands and began to cry happy tears as her brother Elijah grinned widely.
“They just thought that they were getting their books signed,” Courtney wrote on Facebook. “This went better than we had hoped. They were beyond shocked and we were beyond emotional. We were very lucky to have Aunt Vicki there to film it *side note* have tissues when watching PURE DISNEY MAGIC!”
Mickey hugged the girl tight just before their parents joined them for a big group hug.
Courtney shared the video on Facebook and now has more than 1.7 million views. She said she intentionally shared the post on social media.
“I shared the video because I want to continue to draw attention to foster care and adoption,” she said. “Being a former foster child myself and now a foster/adopt mother, it’s very important we don’t forget there is lots of help needed.”
As for the family’s adoption day, Courtney says that it was “perfect.”
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