It was a beautiful May day yesterday...blue skies, cool temps, and a bit breezy at times. A perfect day for a picnic...minus, the big gusts of wind! So, that's what my parents and I did...attended a picnic for adopted children. My adoption agency has finally started to host events in the Dallas area, so I've been able to participate over the past couple of years. This was the first picnic I was able to attend, but they've been hosting them as long as I can remember up north, in Oregon and other cities...just nothing this far south...or at least not since I moved down here in the mid-80's.
As we drove up to the park, my dad said "This is the place. There are Asian kids there!" Ha! Most of the families there had young children...more boys than girls, but they were all cute! Most of the kids were from South Korea, one from India and one from Indonesia. It was fun to go around to each family and meet their kids (both adopted and non-adopted). It made my heart smile! Just the pure innocence and joy of children...you can't beat it! Several said "hi" to me and a few were fairly shy, but they all seemed to get along well.
There were a handful of adult adoptees, too. It was fun and interesting to talk to them and get their perspectives on being adopted. I found myself thinking "Soooo there are other adoptees here (in the Dallas area)! Where have you been all this time?!" As the good and never-ending planner that I am, I ensured we got every one's email addresses so I could plan some happy hours or dinners in the future.
There was one family that my parents and I were drawn to instantly. They were a young couple, but they had 7 children! 4 adopted children and 3 of their own children with another one on the way! So, they'll have 8 children!!! Wow! Amazing! They were so sweet and nice, loving and kind. You could tell right away. They had adopted a little girl and a little boy at separate times and then had gone over to China to adopt another little boy. When they were there a baby boy had been left in an alley and brought to the orphanage. When they saw him they just couldn't leave him. He truly needed them. So, they adopted both boys and brought them home. One of the boys just had surgery on his legs and the other was deaf, so they were working with both of them. What selfless and generous human beings! I was just astonished by the size of their hearts and how they had opened their hearts and their homes to all of these children. Wow! I spoke to the mother who had some questions about raising their adopted children and I love sharing my experiences with adoptive parents because I know they always have questions. As I've said before, it's your decision on how you raise your kids...that's not for me to say...I can just provide insight and my perspective and hopefully that gives you more information to make those decisions.
It was a beautiful day in May! For the rest of the afternoon, my heart was beaming with the joy and smiles of all of those children!
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