Louisiana writes a letter to a father in Bellingham, Washington, who has seven kids, five, of whom, are adopted.
Monday, March 6, 2006, 10:07 a.m., C.S.T.~
Dear Don Hickmon~
I am happy to have heard from you; thank you for taking the time to write back to me.
I am glad you liked my book; but the book of which you speak ("...And The Miracles Continue") is my SECOND book. My first book, "A Family Made Out Of Miracles And Rainbows: The Sandusky Family Story--A True Story Of Love And International Adoption", was written about two years ago. My second one just came out last year, and I have since found out that my fourth book has been accepted for publication! (It is a children's book, and it is about special-needs adoption.) It always helps to have positive feedback regarding your works! :)
Your family sounds lovely. I am sorry that you lost Ellen to lupus erythematosus; that must have been so hard! But I am happy that you found Amelie; not many people are lucky to find love twice! You are truly blessed, Don, and so are the children! You will have to send me a picture of your family!
To tell you a little about myself, I am a charge nurse at a local hospital that is not far from my house, and I have been a nurse for over eight years now. I have been married to my husband, Bill, for nearly fifteen years, and we have a very close, loving relationship with the children and with each other. Sure, we fight on occasion, but more often than not, the benefits far outweigh the negatives!
Our children are a mini-United Nations: we have kids who came to us from all over the United States of America, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, France, Iran, Italy, Romania, Bosnia-Hergezovina, The Netherlands, Russia, Africa, India, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. Most are deemed "special needs": a lot of them are disabled, either physically, mentally, or both, are older than the age of two years, are of mixed racial heritage, or are part of a sibling group that for one reason or another, could not be separated. Even though they were not born to us, we have grown to love each and every one of them, and now it is to the point to where we canNOT imagine our family without ANY of the children! :)
We also have had foster kids for a time; most went to other families, but a little girl under our care died of full-blwon AIDS, which was very hard. We also had three kids of our own, but they all died, two while still babies; that was probably one of the worst times in our lives! Yet God used this tragedy to bring us chidlren without hope or a future, and we have been blessed, indeed--very, VERY blessed! :)
I don't know why God has been so good to us, but we are very happy that He HAS been. There are so many children out there in desperate need of a home or a family (or mostly LOVE); you ARE so right about that! It seems that those kids who are disabled or who are of racially mixed backgrounds suffer the most. It has always been that way. It is really a tragic situation that some of these dear little ones are facing; NO child should NEVER have to endure the hells of life--EVER!
Now we are branching out in our Ministry by counseling other families in the adoption journey, and we refer children-in-waiting to these families, and hope for the best. More often than not, we have been successful, but sometimes we have met with failure. We also have a sounding board where families of children with special needs can get together and discuss in detail life with our children or what is going on in our worlds; this way, we can make new friends and keep in touch with each other's lives. It is really neat to see how some of these families have blossomed, and it is really neat to hear of the accomplishments of some of the children who were once without hope! :)
We got our children from adoption agencies like Hope International, Spence-Chapin, Bethany Christian Services, WACAP, and others, and we have NOT regretted our decision to adopt ONE bit! Sure, some of the children we have now face uncertain futures (Johnny, who has Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, and Rhiannon, who has cystic fibrosis, as two examples), but while they are still with us, we can give them love and let them live life to the very fullest! :) We have children who were NOT expected to survive live despite overwhelming odds (Johnny, Debby, Ronee' Le-Anne, Jo-El, Roberto, and Kwame', as six examples), and they are still flummoxing their doctors today with their continuing courage and will to live! :)
On the other hand, we have nearly given up some of our children because of severe emotional problems (Steffi, Richard, and Melizza), but they have since blossomed into caring young people, and they are three of the nicest, well-mannered young people you would ever want to meet! It was a struggle dealing with their emotional traumas, but mental health counseling and the regulation of their medications have helped tremendously. They are now able to function beautifully in society, and if they ever have a problem coping somehow, they can always go back to their respective counselors at the mental health clinic.
Lord, yes, we HAVE dealt with chaos within our family unit! In fact, CHAOS is a normal occurance around here! LOL Yes, there have been times where I have wanted to pull my hair out on account of the children, but they are only children, and we can't expect them to be good ALL of the time! LOL You are talking to a Master of Crowd Control; yup, that's ME, all over! LOL Sounds like you have a handful too, with your seven! (Oh, to have a smaller family---LOL)
And LORD help us if any of the kids got sick or hurt--thank GOD I am a nurse; but there is still something totally unnerving when we see a child of ours needing the services of a paramedic unit! Whenever they are in the hospital, for whatever reason it may be, we are usually camped out at the hospital until we make SURE that they are going to be okay or are out of harm's way! Sometimes I SWEAR I am living more at the hospital than I am at my own house! LOL
Well, Don, I will let you go for now. Have to go on break. (I get an hour. If I don't eat, I will miss out on lunch, and I will be STARVING by the time I get off! LOL I DON'T want my patients hearing my stomach talking! That would be too embarrassing! LOL) Take care, and do write back soon; I would love to hear from you again! Again, thanks for the very nice comments regarding my book! I am glad you enjoyed it! :)
God bless you and your family always!
(((HUGS))) and much love, your new friend in Tennessee, Louisiana Mayrah Sandusky (Mama to 53 Miracles!). :D
With all those children running about, there will never be a dull moment Karen
And what good couple never have a fight or two now and again, if they didn't it would be a strange relationship
Watch out for that Lupus, it sure is a killer !
And you are blessed by the Divine having four books published !
You must be Mrs Moneybags...lols
Terrific write
Love and Blessings
Peter
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