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Yesterday, we became grandparents for the second time and we ourselves have an eight month old daughter. Super Grandpa took becoming a grandfather really hard after the first grandbaby but you can see in the photo that he’s pretty pleased now. Since you are reading this on an adoption blog I’m sure you’ve guessed how we managed to be grandparents and new parents at the same time; it is through the glory of adoption. We have a beautiful twenty-four year old daughter that we adopted nine years ago when she was fifteen years old. She and her younger sister came to live with us as foster children when they were eight and thirteen and stayed with us as foster children for two years until their parents’ rights were terminated.
Two years is a very long time to have children live with your family. They become integrated into your family’s routines, your social circles and your extended family; ultimately they become part of your family. So I guess it was just a natural transition to make them an official, permanent part of our family.
Super Grandpa and I headed over to the hospital last night with a bouquet of flowers and some homemade Rice Crispy treats for our daughter. She was exhausted but very happy to not be pregnant anymore. She was a week overdue, labored for thirteen hours and then had an emergency c-section to deliver a healthy 8 lb, 15 oz daughter. The 18 month old big sister was very pleased with her new baby.
Can you really make a difference in a child’s life if you don’t become a part of that life until the teenage years? Oh yes, you can. Our daughter is a wonderful, loving mother who takes very good care of her babies before and after they are born. She won’t take any kind of medication without consent from her doctor.
As a child she was exposed to domestic violence and substance abuse so she was definitely at risk for continuing that cycle. However, she helped me care for crack addicted infants and saw first hand the pain suffered by those babies as they go through their withdrawals. She had never attended church before coming to live with us. She took her first daughter to be dedicated in front of our entire congregation before her daughter’s first birthday. She was able to experience life with the bills paid and three meals a day without cockroaches just long enough to know that was the kind of life she wanted to provide for her family as well.
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Photo Credit Julia Fuller 2007
A beautiful family and beautiful story!!!