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Photo Courtesy of flixster.com
"What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!" ~ John "Bluto" Blutarsky, Animal House circa 1978
So the time has come, November is over and we say goodbye to another year of trying our best to raise awareness and advocate for adoption during National Adoption Awareness Month. I accepted a challenge to write a post everyday to advocate, and I did miss one day ... but this right here is the 30th post in 30 days. So I will look at it as mission accomplished! But I gotta tell ya, I have NEVER written this much in all of my life! Not even in college did I sit and contemplate one topic for this amount of time. It has been one bumpy ride with times here and there when I just did not want to say another word about adoption. I admit it, and I will tell you why.
It has been 20 years since I became a mother. I gave birth to three beautiful, amazing children whom I chose to let go. I knew exactly what I was doing and understood that there would be a lifetime of evolving and learning to live life not only without them, but perhaps someday facing what questions they might have for me. In all of those years, I never spoke A TON about adoption. I would have conversations from time to time with friends and acquaintances that I knew, but it was not an everyday thing. Adoption, in my life, was a very personal thing that I went through pretty much alone. My husband has been the one who has heard about it the most, after all he is involved too. But for two decades adoption would come and go for me, not something that I concentrated on every day.
That all changed past year and a half. Adoption has become a very presence in my life, more so than in any other time I can remember. I certainly had never before spoken so deeply, honestly, painfully and joyfully as I have here on this blog. To say it has been a healing for me would be a very true statement. In writing like I have, I also have found so many others who not only have stories to tell but also lessons to teach. There are voices that are so completely different from mine that sometimes break my heart to read, but I take away something from what I have read. I need to listen to these voices and then talk them out with myself to understand better this world of adoption. I need to listen to hear others reflections as a grounding, a tool to help myself realize some things about myself. That is the beauty of it. I keep learning more about other's truths so that I can distinguish what exactly I need to work on in myself and what needs to be done to bring attention to our world, the adoption world. And in that I mean both the good and the bad that happens.
And I intend on doing just that. I think it is a great concept, National Adoption Month. However, I don't think it has to stop in the month of November. I believe it can be done all year through, if for nothing else just to make sure that others out there know what adoption is all about, what it can hold, and what it can become. I will take a few days off, but I am not going to stop raising awareness. I have waited a long, long time to voice my opinion, and I will do my best to be heard.
Now, who's with me?
Man! I had this all set to post last night, but my life has become so incredibly busy that I thought yesterday was the 23rd!!! Darn, and I was doing so good posting everyday this month! Well, you will get two posts today because this piece should have gone up yesterday....
I have a wonderful friend who sent me a message a few weeks back about her brother and his fight to bring home a child from Nepal. There is a situation that is going on over there with the red tape of International Adoption and although I have seen a couple of things here and there, I am still amazed that there has not been more media attention. I mean, how many nights did we watch the story unfold about the Haiti debacle that happened a year ago? How many interviews did Anderson Cooper conduct trying to make sense of what the goals were of the people who flew down there to help children orphaned in the aftermath of the worst natural disaster to hit that nation?
My friend's story was heartbreaking and I immediately put out a call on my Facebook page to let people know what was happening with these families. I could explain everything now, but I found a fantastic blog a week ago that explains it better than I ever could. So, I will link to this post and let you gather your own thoughts. I will also link to a Facebook Page that was set up to petition the US Government to help these families that are already approved, have jumped through the hoops and will more than likely be over in Kathmandu for a long time ... and they just want to get back home to start their lives with their children.
If you would like to be active in avocation for adoption, this may be a way you can help. I am sure there are many families that would appreciate the support of fellow Americans.
Please Pray for US Families Now Stuck In Nepal
Facebook Petition to help Families in Nepal
Photo Courtesy of LisaL7 from Trip Advisor
Well if I started the group then I guess I better have something to say about my advocating for the positives of adoption and advocating for adoption reform. . Here I have been bringing you all of these other great voices, but what does Kelsey think about her own group?
This is something I wrote some months ago but will post here again in case you missed it. Thank you to all who have been following this month and to all who have been reading the posts in the Adoption Awareness group. So many blogs, so little time!
Why I Babble About Adoption
So, November is fast approaching and there is plenty that we as a community can do to raise awareness for reform! If you do not know, I started a group on Bloggers Unite that is aimed to do just that. If you have something to say about adoption, I encourage you to sign up by clicking the button above. (you can also add teh button to your own site or blog, just scroll to the bottom of the page on Bloggers Unite and grab one!) Come Monday, I ask that you write a post about what you would like to say about adoption, or how you are advocating for the rights or wrongs of the system, then post it to the page so that when folks click on the link they can read all of the thoughts there are about this vast community in which we are involved!!!!
Don't be shy...pass along to friends or anyone you know who has something to say about adoption! We are all just drops in the ocean, but it is those drops that can make a difference when all are gathered together!
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