Skip to main content

Something Extraordinary

We're thinking of adopting an older child. There it is in black and white. I said it. It's crazy right? 'The Times' (an English newspaper) is running a campaign to try to increase the number of adoptions to older children. Right now in the UK, there are approximately only 3000 children who are taken out of the system through adoption each year. 1 in 100 are over 5. I can cry writing that. I've seen documentaries on the subject which have never left me. One such documentary that featured a little red-headed boy that broke my heart. He had too many foster parents in his young life and they said his chances of ever finding a family were minimal. I was pregnant at the time. I wanted to save him, but what could I do? I'm sure there are a lot of people that thought the same thing. The thing is that we CAN do something and maybe we should be the sort of people who actually do.
My husband (the amazing man he is) has always said he'd like to do something like that. It was me who dismissed it, but the other night when the campaign was being discussed on the TV news and they spoke of the awful statistics, I turned to my husband, looking for a reaction. We just looked at each other and said how awful it was.
The next day, it was in the paper again. That night I cried after putting Ethan to bed. Every night he gets a story curled up next to mommy in bed (after a playful giggle filled bath time with Daddy). He is the happiest, most well adjusted child who has the most wonderful bond with his parents. That night, I just thought how many children don't have that? Who will never have that?
I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. Maybe it's time I do something extraordinary. Maybe this is the sort of thing I was meant to do with my life. I'm always beating myself up over my big heart. I can't say how many people there have been in my life that have loved me and hated me for my over-sized heart (it's always gotten me in hurt). It's frustrated every man I have ever been with. And then there's my mother who always called me 'the bleeding heart' (and not in a good way). Maybe this is the sort of thing bleeding hearts do - save a child.
I think I'm more in love with my husband today than I was yesterday just because he wants to do it to. We put an application of interest in last night. It's a long and drawn out process. Until we know for sure, I'm not telling my family. I'm sure they'll call me crazy and tell me all the reasons it's an awful idea. Although, that will probably make me want to do it more.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Our Disaster of a Day!

My in-laws just left after a five day visit.  I don't mind it being a five day visit, but then again, five days of your house not being your own is always a bit unsettling and although I don't look forward to their departure when they are here, I can't say I'm sad to have things go back to normal. As a treat for my son's birthday, we took him to the Museum of Natural History in London on Thursday.  He chose to go because we took him last year (he's been crazy about dinosaurs since he was three years old).  They give out adventure packs at the museum which consist of a back pack, safari hat, and binoculars with an adventure to follow during their visit.  The back pack has clues in it to solve a mystery.  Last year it had a dinosaur claw, a tooth and a sample of dinosaur skin he had to match up to one on display.  He had a great time solving the mystery and even remembered which dinosaur it ended up being. Last year's trip was wonderful.  We walked right in,

Playing with my new lens...

I got a new camera lens for my birthday last week.  I don't have a lot of time to play with it, but this is one of the first shots I took...

Beside myself

I had to spend my morning trying not to watch the news knowing because of the time difference, it would be many hours before I could call my loved ones back home (in NJ & NY).  To help pass the time, I took my son to the movies and started making calls on the walk home.  I spoke to my parents, sister and a few friends getting confirmation of my family's safety and most of my friends.  I still can't reach my best friend who lives in Staten Island, NY.  I've been trying to call her once and hour every hour for the last five hours, but still haven't reached her.  Every hour that goes by makes me more and more anxious and I am beside myself with worry.  I spoke to her yesterday.  She was supposed to be evacuated, but chose to stay.  I tried to talk her into going, but couldn't change her mind.  I made her promise she'd call first thing in the morning, but it didn't happen.  Large portions of Staten Island have been devastated by the hurricane and I can't