BDP21

Happy Anniversary! Here's to many more!

Oh my gosh Beth, are you kidding me? This is just way too cool and what are the chances.. You tell Grandma M, we are kindred Spirits in the world of our families, please.. I always try and post inspirational things on my facebook also.. It has been a sort of tough day and this has lightened my load like you wouldn't believe. Thanks for sharing.. So glad your load has been lightened! Hope today is a better day

(((Ellen)))

Just to prove how much you and Grandma M are alike - she posted this very poem on my Facebook wall this morning!

Thanks, Mari! Yes, please keep those prayers coming! We are so unbelievably thankful for the wonderful relationships we do have with Grandma M, his aunts and uncles, and his sisters, but there's still that hole where we hope C will be. And if I feel that hole, I can only imagine that Joseph may also. So, I continue to pray and reach out whenever the opportunity presents itself and hope that she will be able to join us one day soon. And I meant to add that you do remind me very much of Grandma M. You both have such kind, wise spirits and such love for your families! We are lucky to have you both in our lives!

Fran - I was/am like you in that we really want/ed a life-long relationship with the birthfamily and want/ed them to become part of our family. In some ways, we have exactly that, but unfortunately not with Joseph's birthmom (at least right now) or birthdad. Our relationship is with his extended birthfamily and we all feel like family to each other. Grandma M stands in that gap for us and I know she will always be there for Joseph and for us. Being open to the extended family is critical in our situation to keeping that connection alive for our son. Even though she's not in direct contact with us, we consider C a part of our family, too. I think part of the ups and downs of the relationship that you talk about is understanding that sometimes the birthparents will need space and as much as we want that relationship, we can't force it. I think your desire to have that commitment to the child is wonderful and what I think we'd all ideally love to have, but it may not be realistic in every situation. I feel that part of our commitment is to hold the door wide open for C, so that she'll feel comfortable coming back through it when she's ready. I know you'll do a fabulous job navigating the relationships your child brings with him or her. I can tell you so have a wonderful understanding of how important these relationships are! Hoping that you meet your new family soon!

From your mouth to God's ears! We so hope so, too. We would like nothing more than to have Joseph grow up knowing the love of his first mom in person. We are so thankful for Grandma M but of course hope that C will join us.

Congrats on your 4th chili pepper, Mari! As the others have said, your voice is so valuable so please keep posting! And it's incredibly valuable to me and our family as our closest open relationship is with Joseph's 1st grandma. We would of course love to have an open relationship with his first mom (and dad) but that's not in the cards at the moment and so first grandmas have an extra special place in my heart!

Soooo cute!!!

Congratulations to all who love this precious boy!

Lots of good thoughts headed Lauranda's way! Have fun in Vegas!

Welcome to the world, Mirabella! Congratulations to all who love this precious girl!

Congratulations again Becky and Ryan! Love the family picture!

Congratulations, John and Airi!!! We are so excited for you and to see all 3 of you at camp!!! Love, Beth

Hmmm.... I think I have a guess of what's going on.... Can't wait to find out if my intuition (helped along by the hints!) is right!

Yay Monica! So excited to follow your journey! Hannah, I have to admit my heart sped up a little when I saw this thread, too.

I love all the pictures of your extended family - what sweet girls your daughter and granddaughter seem to be!

Congratulations on the official invitation! How exciting - it is defiitely a weekend you will never forget! You will certainly a wonderful, huge Abrazo family around you already in the Memphis area.

Sounds like you are doing great! Just keep up the good work. If you're looking for other book suggestions (just to keep you really busy ), Jim and I both loved Making Room in Your Hearts because it has so many real life examples of how open adoption works for all different situations. I actually just lent it to a friend of mine who was considering adoption and she and her husband loved it.

Welcome, Leslie! Looking forward to following your journey as it unfolds.

Welcome! Such an exciting time!

What wonderful news, Sue! I know it meant so much to me when we were able to meet Joseph's sisters last month - doesn't it feel like such a wonderful beginning?!