Just a Thought

I know that there are people who will read this post and immediately start googling the location of the closest psych ward for me. But, trust me, I’m not ‘doing’ anything yet – I’m just sharing thoughts.



Now that I have a spare bedroom (Corey has left home and joined the Army), my thoughts immediately went to the subject of adoption. It seems a shame to have an empty bedroom when so many kids wait for a bedroom and a family to call their own.



**This is where some of you may start your Google searches**



I have not made a decision to adopt another child, but I must confess that I have visited the adoptuskids website. However, the type of child I would want to adopt (if I had made a decision to adopt again and I haven’t) is not the type that is featured on that website. I would want a child that is either currently in an institution or is headed to an institution.



It truly breaks my heart to just think for a minute about a child growing up in a room with a number on the outside. It breaks my heart to think of such a child not getting tucked in and a kiss goodnight every day. It breaks my heart that such a child may never hear the words “I love you” and have them ring true.



Children need siblings, not other ‘residents’. They need family dinners even if they are fed through a tube. They need holidays with loved ones not holidays spent with the ‘alternate’ staff. They need a dog or a cat and to raise butterflies at least once in their life. They need to sit on a blanket under a tree in the back yard looking up at the cloud shapes. They need sticky hands from popsicles eaten on a summer evening, all the while watching the blinking of lightning bugs. They need to wake up in the morning to the same face that they saw when they went to sleep the night before. They need vacations spent at the shore every year. They need Christmas presents under a tree that has a family’s history of ornaments dangling from it.



They need a family.



I’m not intimidated by complex medical needs. I have learned to navigate the health system in my area, and we have one of the best teaching hospitals in the US here. I have connections and family supports. I understand the insurance system and how to make it work for my children. I have a good job that allows me adequate time off, and I have the supports in place for my children when I am working. But I also have this nagging little whisper in my head that keeps talking about adoption of a medically involved child.



Will I answer that whisper? Not today. But maybe in the future….