A single mother with ten children (all adopted, and all with special needs) writes to Louisiana.
Saturday, February 24, 2007, 10:14 a.m., Tulsa, Oklahoma~
Dear Louisiana Sandusky in Tennessee~
My name is Hannah Grace Needham. I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, smack dab in "Tornado Alley". I am a single mother to ten children, all adopted. My children all have special needs, and they come from places like India, Cambodia, Greece, Africa, Vietnam, China, and Mexico. My children range in age from a year to ten years old.
I was married to Rick, but I divorced him after he chose the bottle over me. He was a hard-core alcoholic, and I couldn't handle his drinking or his drunken rages; for the safety of myself and the kids, I left him, and it was the best thing I could have ever done. It was a hard time in my life, but God has brought me through, and now life is looking much, much better!
To tell you about myself, Louisiana, I am a homeschool teacher. I teach my kids at home because I don't like what they are teaching the kids in public school. I also don't like the fact that they have omitted God out of everything; God is very important in my life, and He is the Reason why I am happy now in life. He gave me my children, and they have been nothing but a joy to me!
My kids are named Ethan Richard (10, adopted from Mexico), Bella Theresa (9, adopted from Mexico), Nathaniel Garrett (8, adopted from Greece), Heidi Nicole (8, adopted from Cambodia), Sanjaya Thomas (7, adopted from India), Harmony Song (6, adopted from Vietnam), Xue Chin ("Susan", 6, adopted from China), Promise Michelle (5, adopted from Kenya, in Africa), Riley Barrett (4, adopted from Africa), and our "baby", Corbin Eleazar, who is one.
Ethan, Bella, Nathaniel, Heidi, and Sanjaya all have Down's syndrome, but they are still great kids. Such winning, happy personalities; you would love them! Harmony is a congenital deaf/mute, but she has a sweet personality, too. Susan was born a little person (she is only two feet tall, but she has the biggest voice; she loves to sing or make herself heard in any way! LOL), and Promise has cri-du-chat syndrome; she is developmentally delayed and is in a wheelchair; she can't walk very well just yet (she is learning, though). Riley has Tourette's and autism (he is a handful), and Corbin is blind, mentally disabled, and has cerebral palsy (he is tube-fed, and he can't walk or talk, but he has a grin that would light up the world!).
The reason I am writing to you, Louisiana, is because I read your book "A Family Made Out Of Rainbows And Miracles", and I could identify with a lot of the same experiences or feelings you wrote about. I also could identify with some of the difficult choices regarding my children's education or medical care; your story sounds a lot like mine in many ways! I am glad God brought us through the rough patches, He is an awesome God, isn't He?
I wrote a book about my family, the title of my book is "Special Needs: Parenting Chidlren With Seemingly Hopeless Handicaps". I am working on a second book (also about the kids; the working title of this book is "Disabled? Nope! Abled!"). I do a lot of my writing when the kids are asleep, like in the middle of the night; it's when I have time for myself! LOL
I have a big enough family, the kids wear me out at times; I can't imagine parenting over four dozen children! How do you do it, Louisiana? Better yet, how do you find the time? Where do you do your writing, and where do you find time to accomplish your goals? What possessed you to adopt that many kids? Fifty-plus children? Wow!! Amazing!!
Well, I am going to go now. The baby is crying (silently, but he is definitely crying; tears are pouring from his eyes!), and Susan and Nathan are fighting; have to separate them before there is bloodshed! Not good on a white carpet, you know?? Also, Riley is cussing up a storm, and I am hoping that Ethan doesn't pick up any new curse words! The last time he cursed he was at church. The pastor looked at me like I was spawned from the devil! LOL I was so embarrassed, I wasnted nothing more than to crawl under the pew at church! LOL
Take care, Louisiana, and God bless your beautiful Miracle Family! You sure have a big heart full of love! Hope to hear from you soon; I love getting letters!
~Most sincerely, your new Oklahoma friend, Hannah Grace Needham in Tulsa.
Nice letter and more characters...this woman's entitled to start carrying a bar of soap in her Sunday purse to wash out the child's mouth who spews the curse words in the Lord's House...Thanks for the letter today, Karen Lynn...hope you are doing well...
I see another amazing mom developing here, Karen. I'm sure she and Louie will have a lot to write about. Home schooling these days seems the way to go considering the state of our public schools. Nice work, K.
This is wonderful write. Yes, ten children at home could make a class that is very interesting. Each children has special needs to make the task more interesting.
How do you do it? Come up with new characters and all those names and remember what you've written?? That is the hallmark of a great writer, writing people we grow to know and love. Well done, Sis. :)
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