November 2005, Thanksgiving Day~

Dear Friends And Family~

Okay, okay, so it is a few days BEFORE Thanksgiving; but I figured I would let you know what is up in our part of the world.

2005 has been a very good year for our family: we have added three new children, bringing our number of children up to 53! We added a baby boy (1 year old now) and a little five-year-old girl from Sri Lanka, and we just recently added a little eight-year-old girl from Romania. Little Arjun Ravi and Rani Kalpana have since adjusted to their new home here in America beautifully, and they are now acting like typical "American" children. In August, we adopted Janica Kryzstina from Romania, and while a lot of things here are still relatively strange and unfamiliar to her, she is learning English quickly, and she is proving to be a very sweet and loving child.

We also had some uncertain times befall us: in June, our daughter, Ronee', who will be 13 come Christmas Day had major hip surgery (both hips), and she WAS down for a while, but I am happy to say that the surgery was a rousing success, and she now gets around better than she has been able to in  a very long time, and she hasn't had a major flareup of her JRA in quite a long while. In addition, her asthma is improving markedly, and there is talk that the doctor may take her off the oxygen COMPLETELY by the new year if she continues to do as well as she is at the present rate! As for Johnny, her brother, his muscular dystrophy has NOT worsened, much to our surprise, and he continues to baffle doctors with his will to live and his undying courage. Johnny has already lived eight years longer than doctors predicted he would, and he is still walking on crutches and leg braces (for short distances, yes, but he is STILL walking!!), which is nothing short of a Miracle! I also had surgery back in March of this year, and I am now walking without the aid of a cane (OR crutches) for the first time in years, and for the first time in years, I can now live without crippling back pain and can now lift up my children and give them hugs and kisses! The surgery has opened up a whole new world for me, and it is like I am a completelly different person! Best of all, I can even DANCE!! :)

I have also made new friends in Donna Oliver from Smyrna, Georgia, Wilma and Frederick Gardner from Skiatook, Oklahoma, and Maria Jones from Biloxi, Mississippi, and now two of them are part of our ever-growing adoption community that I am a part of. We write to each other and let each other know what is up in our families' lives, and we support each other during each step of the adoption process. Some are brand new at the adoption game, but others (like myself and Kendra Williams in Soulsbysville, California, as two examples) are old pros, and we have the children to back that claim! While I now have 53 children, Kendra, a single parent with a significant physical disability, has adopted sixteen little girls, all with disabilities, and she has proven to be an excellent mother and caretaker to her beautiful daughters! She has recently added a little girl from Sri Lanka, America Hope, and she has also adopted a sibling group (Maria, Lacey, and Susie Jackson) from Mississippi, and she has also adopted a little girl from Georgia named Chelsea, who has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair.

This Thanksgiving we are going out to eat, and I am going to enjoy the weekend off from work after working a slew of double shifts lately. I don't know yet about Christmas, but for now, I am scheduled to work. (Every year, we alternate these holidays: one year, I am off Thanksgiving and work on Christmas, and the following year, I am OFF on Christmas and work Thanksgiving. Unfortuanately, as I am a nurse, I don't get major holidays off, and people can be counted on, sure and certain, to get sick or injured during the holidays, in which they often do.) My husband, the lucky stiff, is off work on BOTH Christmas and Thanksgiving. *grins* (Maybe I ought to switch jobs...LOL)

I just wanted to write to let you know what was up with us, and I also wanted to wish each and every one of you a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving! May you get all the turkey and stuffing your hearts desire, and may you take time to give thanks for all the blessings that God has bestowed upon your lives! Lord knows, I am definitely thankful for my faith in God, my health, and especially my family!

~Louisiana Sandusky, Nashville, Tennessee. :)