Feb. 28, 2009

Here I am sitting in my living room wondering how my life took a very unexpected turn. I am actually going to try to adopt an "older" Colombian child.
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February 28th 2009 is the day it happened. I attended a Western NY Foreign Language Educators Conference with 2 co workers. During the conference I sat in on some workshops and perused several vendors, textbook sales reps, and a few social rights groups. Nothing caught my attention except the outrageous prices of home made jewelry and some screen print t-shirts!
During the first workshop, Jen (co-worker) passed over a newspaper article from an adoption service at the conference. She whispered, "Linda, this would solve your day care dilemma!" I read the byline and laughed aloud, as for some reason I complain all the time to Jen about the skyrocketing cost of daycare. I don't even have kids, but I have a big beef with the cost.
The idea of "having" a school aged child never entered my mind before! Needless to say, my curiosity got the best of me so... I stopped listening to the presenter and actually read the article. OH MY GOD! The story captured my mind, touched my heart and warmed my soul. Here were these (amazingly) strong kids, dressed in little orphan uniforms, looking into the camera with glistening eyes hoping to catch the glance of someone willing to just love them. After the workshop session, I returned to the BVS table to read more about their program, take the "free stuff" and smile at the lady (Laura) behind the table. I asked her a few questions about the program, the kids, about being single, about living on a teacher salary, etc...
We left the conference. I picked my Mom up for lunch and to visit Grandma. As soon as my mom got into the car I shoved the papers in her lap. After reading them she looked at me and said "You know, I always thought you'd do something like this, Lin." She said some other things, which will remain private. Needless to say, they were very touching. My mom's support was all I needed to make another contact with BVS and talk about the "real" stuff.
In the meantime I started worrying about who these kids were in the orphanage? Why are they there? Whey weren't they adopted at a younger age? How long have they been there? How much will this really cost me? These questions were mind consuming. When I ran, I thought about them. When I ate, I thought about them. When I was was trying to fall asleep, I thought about them. When I was teaching, I thought about them. My thoughts were almost obsessive and out of control! I was self diagnosed with ADD unless it was about adoption.
Before attending the informational meeting, I told 5 friends outside of my immediate family that I was considering this. Every single one of these friends had some kind of positive reaction. If not about the kids in the program then about the idea of just considering the program. These friends I told were planned out for a reason. They are the listeners and the thinkers in my life. In distinctive and unique ways they are all super bright people that I am blessed to have in my life. Some of these friends are very old and some of them are very new. Some like to listen, absorb and ponder while others have an opinion before hearing the entire story. These friends helped me reach new levels of thinking, questioning, and mind mapping. I hope they will continue to play a roll in this adventure...