A little more serious note

In the last week or so several small events have coincided in my life that have pushed me to post about something with more substance than my previous entries. I recently found out that a 19 year old family friend was unexpectedly pregnant (a surprise I can easily relate to!). However, the father is not really in the picture in any substantive way. I am not going to pick sides on the abortion debate here, but I want to take a moment to express my profound admiration for M as she has chosen to give her baby up for adoption. M is a junior in college and has decided she can not give her baby everything she deserves. She has chosen an incredibly difficult path, but one that I believe shows maturity beyond her years as well as a supreme example of a mother's love. It is in light of this positive story, a young mother's love for her child and the blessing of a family unable to conceive a biological child that put perspective on a few other recent news stories.

Philly is currently rolling in the wake of the story of Danieal Kelly, a 14 yr old handicapped girl whose mother actively neglected and abused her. As I read the story in the paper I was brought to tears and vomiting wondering how a mother, or a human being for that matter, could behave in such a despicable way.

Then on Ashley's Closet I read a more positive story about a feral child and the couple who adopted Dani. The story, also heartbreaking, is an example of what can happen when good people take a stand.

Finally, as I have been exploring other blogs like the Beehive Five, I've come across several that are celebrations of families with adopted children.

Growing up my family participated in Foster Care, taking care of children ranging from infants to 14 yr olds with physical and mental disabilities. My brother and I were actively included in the decision to care for others and my family became a strong team led by my parents. This is one of the reasons (among many) I admire my parents not just for the love and support they have always shown us, but because they answered the call to lead by example. As a high schooler I shared my room for 2 years with a toddler who couldn't speak at first and was flirting with Reactive Attachment Disorder due to neglect. Just as my family decided to make her a permanent legal (she'll always be a permanent emotional) part of our family, we got word another family wanted to adopt her and they had young children her age...she'd fit right in! Letting her go was the hardest thing I have EVER had to do, but the reward of seeing her flourish in her new family and the gift of her adoptive family including my family in their lives over the years has been one of the most tremendous experiences anyone could hope for.

I fully understand not everyone feels the call to adopt or participate in foster care, or maybe, like Mr. F and myself, aren't in a position at this moment to do so, but I beg each person to consider volunteering for an organization like CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) that trains volunteers to act as children's advocates in courts where the parent's rights are typically put above the children's, or to consider if at some point foster care, even emergency care, might be a way to reach out to the most helpless of all.