It was my daughter’s first homecoming dance at her high school.

Like any dutiful mom, I took her shopping for the perfect dress and the perfect shoes, letting her drag me from store to store.

Like any dutiful mom, I helped her do her hair and makeup. Of course, I suggested she let her gorgeous curls flow free for the night. Like any teenager, she rolled her eyes and did it her way.

And like any dutiful mom, I took dozens of photos and posted them on my social media pages with a tear in my eye. When did my little baby girl grow up? How did it happen so darned fast?

A short time later, one of my longtime friends posted a reply: “I swear, if I didn’t know better I’d say she was yours. She looks so much like you.”

We get that a lot, actually, but I don’t see it.

First, she’s a good head taller than me thanks to a teenage growth spurt, her spinal fusion surgery two years ago, which corrected her scoliosis, and her birthmother.

While my hair is (grayish) auburn and my eyes are the lightest blue, she has dark curly hair and eyes so brown they’re almost black — like her birthmother.

A tall, dark haired, brown-eyed woman named Gail gave birth to my daughter on the morning of Jan. 26, 2001. Moments later, she handed the little pink bundle to me with the question, “Are you ready to meet your daughter?”

And from that moment, she was, indeed, my daughter.

I am the one who took her home, changed her diapers, fed her, burped her, dressed her in cute outfits and showed her photos to anyone who would look. (Y’all are so lucky there was no Facebook or Instagram back then.)

It would take 18 months to get all the paperwork done, then a stroke of a judge’s pen to make it official, though.

Then she was mine legally.

November is National Adoption Month and today, Nov. 19, is officially National Adoption Day. All across America, communities will celebrate by finalizing the adoptions of thousands of children from foster care.

According to the web site AdoptUSKids.org, there are currently 4,787 children in foster care in Louisiana. Of those, 653 are waiting for their forever homes. There also are thousands of children who need good, safe foster homes.

Our daughter came to us through a private, independent adoption. After we wrote and mass mailed a letter about our family, Gail read it, chose us and contacted us. We had a lawyer handle all the details, making sure every “i” was dotted and “t” was crossed. We took no shortcuts.

We still are in contact with my daughter’s first mother and visit her often. Lora also has a biological half-sister and many cousins who have watched her grow up on Facebook, who celebrate every honor roll and accomplishment, who tell her who she really looks like.

Our adoption was not easy, nor was it cheap, and there were times we thought it would never happen.

But it did. And I wouldn’t change one single thing about my daughter or how she became ours.

Lori Lyons is sports editor at L’OBSERVATEUR. She can be reached at lori.lyons@lobservateur.com or 985-652-9545.