WHAT DOES ADOPTION MEAN TO OUR FAMILY?

Simply put, adoption has allowed us to complete the family we always dreamed of having.

Ours is a story of fate, love and destiny. Our first meeting took place when we were in second grade. We grew up exactly one block from each other; we went through all our years of school together; and our families were friendly. It wasn’t until some thirty years later though that we realized we were destined to be together and start our family.

From our first date, it was as if the story had been written – we were meant to be together forever. We spent so much time talking and getting to know each other on that first date that we forgot there were others around us; our second date was similar in that we were eating outdoors and didn’t even realize it was raining outside around us. It wasn’t long before we discovered that we liked exactly the same foods, that we both enjoyed traveling, and that we enjoyed watching the same old television shows and movies that other people were probably tired of seeing anymore. Our families were the backbone of each of our upbringing, with big family celebrations at every holiday and birthday. We each grew up with only one sibling; that sibling remains today (aside from each other) each of our best friends in life.

It was exactly one year and a day after our first date that we were married. We each asked only one thing from our wedding – we wanted to be surrounded by our families and our close friends. We started our family one year after getting married with the addition of a new puppy, Webster. In 2003 our family grew with the long awaited addition of our son, Seth Brandon, named in honor of one of our mother’s who had recently passed away. With his birth-name came the very big responsibility to live up to the strong family role model his grandmother had provided. To this day, some seven years later, he has been a source of so much love, pride and joy for us.

We knew we wanted more children in our family as we enjoyed our son and each and every new experience with him so much. Additionally, we wanted another child so that our son could grow up in exactly the same family as we had (i.e., with a sibling) as we both felt so lucky to have the families that we had grown up with. He also asked us repeatedly for a sibling – specifically a sister. He wanted so very much to be a big brother and share everything he had and had learned with a sibling. Unfortunately we were not able to provide that for him biologically, so after failed fertility attempts, we turned to adoption. We both entered adoption with various pre-conceived thoughts, but after taking the classes offered through Adoption STAR and exploring various on-line sites and resources, these were quickly changed. We quickly came to realize that adoption was the road we wanted to travel down. We all had so much love in our hearts to give to another child – we knew we were able to provide the same loving, nurturing family life to a child that we both grew up in and that we have provided to our son.

It was not an easy road as there were a lot of ups and downs emotionally. We knew we could provide such a loving home and life for a child, and we struggled with that fact and the wait time. We discussed the adoption frequently amongst ourselves and with our son, and we always had the attitude that when the right situation came up and the child who needed us the most became available, we would be selected. Our miracle took place on April 22, 2009 when Taylor Ruby was born and joined our family. From that day, we knew we had been blessed with the completed family that we so longed for. Our son immediately became the big brother he so desperately wanted to be. From their first meeting in the hospital, he became nurturing and protective over her in a way that it is hard to believe a child can be – every time she cries or fusses, he is quick to run over to her to see what he can do; sometimes it just takes putting her pacifier back in her mouth when it falls out, while other times he covers her in her blanket to make sure she is warm, and in many cases, he just sings to her, mostly songs that he makes up the words to. To make our story even more bittersweet, Taylor came home from the hospital on her Mommy’s birthday two days after she was born. What a precious present!

In summary, adoption completed our family and gave our entire family, including grandparents, aunts and uncles, the blessing of another life to take care of, watch grow, teach, and just plain love. We share the opinion that life is meant to be shared; there is always more love available in our hearts to share and the blessing that we received through a successful adoption has allowed us to live our dream of our perfect family.