adoption: thank god my parents picked me

...I was a happy baby

My 2 sisters and I were all adopted within a couple days of being born.

I can't imagine how difficult it would be emotionally and physically for a woman to carry a baby 9 months to term and make the decision not to keep the baby... but how brave to do just that.

Adoption is a very good thing.

This is just my little story. I'm an adult and productive member of society - who is very happy abortion wasn't the choice made... I always knew I was adopted. My mother made me feel special by telling me a story, several times, when I was a little girl, that when she went to the hospital, I looked up at her and say "I want YOU for my mommy!"... So she said "OK!" and took me home.

Pretty neat trick to be able to speak at 3 days old, huh? Yes I was a gifted child...

I think my grandpa is about to play his accordion in above photo. My favorite memory was his saying "God bless ya..." when good things happened. He was such a loving, sweet man. He raised 9 children, had a successful fruit & vegetable business, owned 3 homes and put all 9 through college. Some work ethic. God blessed him...!

There was never discussion or anything negative said about ny "birth" mother.

I was just a happy child living a life with two normal American parents who had made the effort to privately adopt. It was a success so they adopted two more girls. One sister is 1.5 years younger than me and the other 7 years younger. My father taught me ambition, airplanes, camping, independence, canoeing, bicycling, horses, science, corn futures trading, classical music, life long education...

My mother taught me laughter, manners, cooking, cleaning, art, style, crafts, how to read when I was 4, optimism, self worth, morality...

Birthday time for me! Whee, that cake looks good...

Yes... looks like another birthday...

And again... this one is my youngest sister's 1st birthday. She was SUCH a cute baby... I'm looking hip in a hand-made leopard print dress? (...geez, mom... realllly??)

Another smashing home-made ensemble my mother made for my sister and I... can you tell its the 1970s? What gave it away? ...

So here we are - 3 adopted kids all in one family, my family.

No, we don't look alike at all but when my closest-in-age sister and I went through high school and told friends we were sisters, the usual response was "oh, I see ... you guys look alike..."

We thought this was pretty funny. We would giggle and proudly respond "thanks, but we're adopted!"

I never met my birth mother but I am thankful for her bravery and sacrifice for giving me life.

I am thankful to both my parents for raising me as their own and their continued life long love for me.

Choose life.