Louisiana in Tennessee writes yet another letter on her computer. She is on break at work; so she finds time to answer her latest email.
Monday, the 4th of October, 2004, 10:30 p.m., C.S.T.~
Nashville, Tennessee~
Dear Rosie:
Hello there! Thank you so much for writing; it is good to hear from you!
I am glad you liked the article that was featured in that magazine; and I am glad you found us fascinating! But we are just like any family; we just happen to be a bit bigger than most! LOL Thank you for telling me about your husband, Kenny, and your beautiful girls! They all sound just lovely! I am glad that you and Kenny have the family that you have always wanted!
We have always wanted a big family too, but unlike you, we WERE able to have kids. We had three kids of our own (two boys and a girl), but unfortunately, time was not kind to us or to them. Sickness hit two of them (Aron and L'Acadia), and the other one (Pierre) died of SIDS. They were four years, two and a half weeks, and six days, respectively, when they died; but God saw us through our pain and grief; and He knew we wanted a family, so He brought us kids that nobody else wanted into our lives; and we became an instant family.
The first two kids were a boy and girl from Germany and Louisiana, and we got them when they were a few months old. They are now heading towards the age of twelve, and both Johnny and Ronee' have emerged into beautiful, smart, talented, and loving kids on the verge of teenagerhood. We then got nine more, which made our family go from four to 11, and all of a sudden, our lives got very busy. We have since added kids from Russia, China, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Mexico into our family, and now we have fifty Miracles. They range in age from 22 on down to five; and we couldn't have asked for better, or more loving, children!
I have written a book about our family ("A Family Made Out of Miracles and Rainbows: The Sandusky Family Story--A True Story of Love and International Adoption"), and it is available at most Christian bookstores. I am hard at work on another book, but this one is on nursing. I may do a sequel to my first book eventually down the road, but between working (I am at work now; I, too, am a nurse, and I work at Nashville Memorial Hospital), raising my large family, and writing, my life is very busy indeed--not to mention, blessed. We have a very supportive group of people made up of family, friends, and church members, and I also have found friends through the Internet and through our adoption support network. I have many people that I keep in contact with, and we share our stories and lives with one another; and if one is suffering, we pray for them and try to suport them as best as we possibly can.
We rely on each other to keep order in our house. That is, we are in charge of the children, and the older kids watch out over their younger siblings; and each child (if they are able) has a set list of responsibilities that they have to follow; and they also look out for one another. We have rules that our kids must follow, and we teach them right from wrong, and the consequences that follow if they happen to misbehave. We also have our neigbors watch the kids if Bill (my husband) or I are at work or not at home due to other reasons. If a problem should happen to arise, the kids can call for help, and they can, in turn, get in touch with us, and this way, we are always aware of what are kids are doing and when, and if trouble should happen to arise, then we can quickly react. We do not leave our children unattended at any time: someone is always with them.
The hardest part in raising our brood is probably the scheduling of meals, activities, or medicines. I have to keep a detailed list of hobbies, games, medicine dispension, appointments, or whatnot, so I know who is doing what, or who needs what, and when, and it can get confusing; but I am used to chaos, and somehow, things get done. NOT always, but usually, things run smoothly. I have a system that I follow, and I expect order in my family (although that doesn't always happen, especially if we are in a hurry, or someone unexpectedly falls ill or needs to go to a hospital). Also the hardest part is dealing with unexpected emergencies, such as when Johnny has a seizure, Ronee' has a spell of anaphylactic shock (she is allergic to peanuts and insect stings, in particular, bees or wasps) or asthma, or Jodie chokes on her vomit or sputum (she can't swallow) and stops breathing; but as a nurse, I am trained to deal with such emergencies; and I try my best to help my kids through these crises. Still, ambulance runs to our house ARE fairly common, but still, they do catch me off guard! Any emergency is bound to catch anyone off guard, and I am no exception, even though I AM a nurse. After all, I AM a mother, just like you are, and I don't like to see one of my kids get sick or hurt, as no mother does!
My kids come from Africa (Kwame'), Germany (Johnny), Mexico (Jeraldo and Roberto), Central and South America (Enriquesa and Monica), Korea (Sun-Hee, Summer Song and her sisters Camey and Tammi, and Jodie), Vietnam (Sunshine Lee and her twin brother Andre' and their older sister, Starlight Melody, Tri, Tran, and Anh Kim), Russia (Sergei), China (Megan and Michelle), India (Jameela), Canada (Stephanie and her younger brother Michael, as well as Benjamin), Italy (Mario), Bosnia-Hergozovina (Danita), France (Gisele), Japan (Gemini), the Netherlands (Holland--Trude), and of course the United States (Ronee', Dwerlina, Dianne, Melizza, Jo-El, Rhiannon, Tanya, Heather, LaGloria and her older sister, Keisha, Porter, and others). But despite their differences in cultures or racial backgrounds, they are still brothers and sisters by adoption, and I couldn't have asked for a better group of kids!
Well, Rosie, I am going to go to go to the cafeteria, so I must go now, or I won't get to eat! LOL I will write more later; thank you again for taking the time to write to me. It was good to hear from you, and I do hope that you will write to me because I will write you back! Until I next hear from you, take care, and God bless you all!
In His Service,
Most sincerely,
Your new friend in Tennesseee, Louisiana Mayrah Sandusky (Mother to 50 Miracles). :D
I agree w. Susan. You should do a story on a day in the life of Louisiana! It would be facinating to read how she has time to take care of all those kids and still manage to write so many long, descriptive letters! Maybe I could learn a thing or 2 from her...
A wicked Cajun Fairy named Robes Pierre entered the impenetrable Magical doll land of Sha Bebe. Queen Faustina, the ruler of the doll land, thought she had destroyed him, but he's back! Will the doll land survive his evil ways?
Let this coming of age story of a boy named Bean take you back to a simple time. Set in a small southern town in the 1960's, encircled by a river and gleaming white cotton fields.
Monday, the 4th of October, 2004, 10:30 p.m., C.S.T.~
