Aug 08
School starts today, and parents throughout the area are breathing a sigh of relief as the familiar routine begins again. Summer, for parents of younger children, often means a long string of camps – here they are Camp Imagination, town-sponsored activities camps, Science Camp (hopefully again next year), Music Camp, swim lessons, volleyball and basketball …
Apr 07
For those who have been following my ‘adoption adventure,’ I finally have good news. I will be soon be adopting a nearly-9-year-old girl – exactly the child I had hoped for when I began this adventure. As a recap, I began this journey more than a year ago as a direct response to the loss …
Mar 09
“How is the adoption going?” I hear the question nearly everywhere I go. My response is… “sigh.” I haven’t updated the saga for several months in hope I that I would have a definitive answer – a child to announce! But alas, no… not yet. The obstacles are many, and all are out of my …
Mar 02
I don’t believe in coincidences. Whether part of some “divine plan” or a science deeper than we currently understand, I think everything happens for a reason. I see it as a philosophical version of Chaos Theory; in my thinking, there is a pattern, a Koch’s Curve to life. If we could just stand back far …
Mar 01
I am in a holding pattern. After spending months going through interviews, training classes, home visits, paperwork nightmares, background checks and so much more, I am finally both licensed for foster care and certified for adoption. Those designations came within a couple of weeks of each other about a month ago. I celebrated, thinking I …
Feb 24
And suddenly, everything is different. Ok, maybe not everything, but significant changes have occurred. My small house (1,400 square feet) is now home to two additional people. Three women and a girl are now sharing one and a half baths (the “half” has only a sink and toilet – we are limited to one bath …
Feb 17
How does one choose a child? I have been writing about my journey toward adopting a child since last August. It has been a long and sometimes tedious road, but I’m nearly at its end, or rather, at the beginning of my second adventure in parenting. Having lost my own daughter to a tragic car …
Feb 02
I know they mean well. Their hearts are certainly in the right place; it’s their misunderstanding of the situation that leads them to make the comments they do. Some background is probably necessary. My eldest daughter was killed in a car accident in May of 2008. Several months after that, I began the process of …
Feb 01
This editorial was published in November 2008, in The Wickenburg Sun as I worked toward becoming certified for adoption. I have been stopped a number of times lately by townsfolk – some I know, some I don’t – asking me the same question, “How’s your adoption going?” My answer is, “Slowly.” This is my third …
Jan 27
Earlier, I outlined my reasons for, and the beginning steps toward becoming certified for adoption (www.wickenburgsun.com, August 2008). As the time goes by, the obligations are met and the process continues, I am increasingly excited and enthused. Most people looking to adopt want a newborn or infant and go through private agencies to achieve their …
