I Am Thankful, Adoption Edition

I am thankful . . .

. . . for the adoptive families who have come before us, who have been honest about their successes and their mistakes, so we can learn.

. . . for the adult adoptees who share their pain and their joy, so we can learn. I know your lives are not lived so that we can learn, but I’m grateful for what you share.

. . . for brave birth mothers -- braving scorn and stigma to write about their experiences -- whose honesty about the pain and loss in adoption has opened my eyes to a part of adoption I wanted to ignore, but cannot, for the sake of my children.

. . . for my extended family – parents, sister & brother and their families, aunts, uncles, cousins, all of whom have embraced my children as their own.

. . . for my girls: my smart, intense, passionate Zoe; my smart, peace-making, empathetic Maya, who have changed my life in ways I could never have imagined when I began this journey.

. . . for my faithful blog readers, who share this life-long journey called adoption.

Happy Thanksgiving, one and all!