I am truly blessed! I remember when I became a mom, I thought it would fill the Mother's Day sadness I have from losing my mother at the age of 24. That didn't happen. Motherhood has brought so much joy that I cannot even begin to describe it, but I was even more sad that… Continue reading Mother’s Day Blessings
For my Guatemala adoption, each month I waited to receive a set of 3 pictures showing me the health and progress of my baby. That first month went by very fast. Of course, I cried when I opened up the next set of pictures. Alice looked well taken care of surrounded by colorful blankets and… Continue reading Adoption – The Waiting…..
Prior to my disability and me being a mom, I used to perform in local theater. One of those productions was “The Secret Garden” with Little Theater of Manchester, and it was such a fun show. A group of us were on and off stage together through the entire show. We were “The Dreamers” –… Continue reading Adoption – 1st Baby Shower
The Friday after receiving my referral, Iris (agency director) called asking if I wanted to officially name the baby since she did not have a birth certificate yet. I did not feel prepared to name the baby, but I thought if I did, the act of doing that would make her “more” mine. Over the… Continue reading Adoption – What's In A Name
My documents were submitted to the Guatemalan consulate on 2/5/2003. Iris, the Agency Director, immediately contacted me – that very day – about a potential baby. It was hard to believe that the process was truly beginning. I was excited and nervous all at once. I received Alice’s referral picture on 2/10/2003. She was one… Continue reading Adoption – The Referral
After the home study, I completed the dossier. This was a package of notarized documents that I mailed to the Secretary of State for approval and then it would go to the Guatemalan Consulate, before going to Guatemala. This process took me forever. I still remember the day my friend Lee came over to my… Continue reading Adoption – The Dossier
The application, the home study, the dossier...there was so much paperwork to complete! It took me forever to finish the application. I woke up one morning at 6 a.m. sat down and typed out the answers to all of the questions… but two. The first related to my financial information, which I needed to document… Continue reading Adoption – The Paperwork!
The funny thing about adoption is that a series of small decisions made along the way determine the outcome, which child becomes yours. Your choice for the agency and birth country and the timing of the paperwork. It truly is a miracle that it all works out. I had thought about adoption for years. At… Continue reading The Decision To Adopt
Finding Abilities 