“Your friends, the ones you bump into unexpectedly then can’t wait to tell your mom about. ‘You won’t believe who I saw today…’ You forgot how much old friends meant. How much they still mean. Home. A place where we spend our youth running from it and our adulthood trying to recreate it. It’s still there, you know. Waiting for you and waiting for your children, too.”
“He grabbed a toy cup, went over to the full pot of coffee, and pulled it down to pour into his toy cup. My baby sister’s seat was just below. You may or may not notice her scars when you see her.”
“Adoption isn’t really a topic or a concept in Taiwan. We traveled back to visit our parents and announced we would be starting the adoption process. They thought we were joking.”
“She showed up with a smile. She was happy and talkative and playful with all the kids and dogs who showed up. She sweetly asked me and Bill, ‘What are we doing here?’”
“I stood side by side, laughing and crying through three decades of this life. Of building a home together. Of bringing children into the world and raising them. Of building two businesses. Nobody needs to understand it.”
“During the night of her vigil, I saw my mother illuminated by a crack in the door and holding a suction straw to her weak mother’s lips. Mama patiently reassured Maw Maw time after time that she was fine, that she was safe.”
“I felt free. I felt like I was following my inner warrior as she told me how to do the right thing for this child. I had no job, no savings, and was in no place to raise a baby alone. I wanted more for this sweet child.”
“I saw her and my heart stopped. I tried to scroll past, but I couldn’t. We took a HUGE leap of faith.”
“If someone told me a few years ago, I would be 26 and adopting a teenager, I would have thought they were crazy. Now, I can’t imagine it any other way.”
“At 22 weeks, I started getting swollen. I gained 16 pounds in a week. ‘I advise you not to carry another pregnancy.’ We felt lost and alone until a glimmer of hope entered our lives.”
