A woman new to adoption writes to an experienced adoptive parent, sharing her story and wanting advice.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005, Alaska Time~
Dear Ms. Sandusky~
You don't know me, but I heard about you via several articles, and I felt compelled to write to you. I am an adoptive parent, living in Sitka, Alaska, and I have two children, one adopted from Korea, and the other, from Latin America (Guatemala). My kids are named Ai Sook Le (renamed Brittyn Aleyshia) and Santiago Pedro (renamed Ryan Paul), and they are two and three years old.
My name is Adriadne Kopell, and I am a widow; I lost my husband, Fred, to a car accident two years ago, and I am still reeling over his death. I am now the single parent to two extremely active kids, and I don't know if I have done the right thing in adopting them. I know they need a home and a family, but I feel I am not being a "good enough" mother to them, and just the other day, Brittyn was acting up, screaming and yelling, and I got fed up; in my anger, I reached out and slapped her across the face as hard as I could; and it scared me. I have been trying to find a job, but nobody seems willing to take me in because I am a single parent with two small kids, and I am also over the age of forty. I am extremely frustrated, and I don't know what to do.
My kids also don't speak much in the way of English, so trying to communicate with them is a big problem, and I don't have many friends who are willing to help me. What do I do? Who do I turn to? I don't want to give up my kids, but I can't afford daycare, and whenever I have to go job-searching, the kids come with me; and people look at me funny. How do you handle your brood, and what do you suggest, in relation to the problems I am currently facing? Any advice from you would be most helpful, and I hope you don't mind my writing to you, but I am at the end of my rope.
Please write back if you are willing; any helpful advice from you would be most appreciated! I will be awaiting your reply!
Thanks!
Most sincerely, Adriadne Michelle Kopell in Sitka, Alaska (adoptive mommy to Ryan Paul [3] and Brittyn Aleyshia [2]). :(
If anyone can help Adriadne (pretty names you come up with LOL), Louisiana can--she's the voice of experience! Another excellent write--look forward to more. Love that pic, too--looks like me! LOL
That is downright scary. But it reminds me of a friend to whom that almost happened. She adopted 3 small children and two weeks after it was ginal, her husband dropped dead of a heart attack. She, fortunately, had an education, and found herself a teaching job, but the going was tough. Fortunately she was one of the tough who got going
A poignant story about letting go of a narcissist in your life. Have you ever been attacked FULL force by a narcissist? It's the closest thing to being stabbed over and over in the back.
Spoken Word
This CD will touch the deepest inner part of your humanness and spirit, you will never be the same after listening to the depths of struggle, the reality of life, the touching voice of truth. It will shock you, move you to tears. It w
Tuesday, May 10, 2005, Alaska Time~
