A story about a really big family and how they came into being.
We are a big family--bigger than most.
We have adopted a total of sixty children, most with special needs. The children currently range in age from a year and a half all the way to 25; they come from places like Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Central and South America, Canada, and the United States.
Most are disabled, physically, mentally, or both (as in the cases of two of our teenagers Jodie and Todd). Most are indeed quite disabled; this is immediately apparent once you see them, but to us they are perfect. We have learned to look beyond their disabilities, even when they are so apparent. We see the children first, not the disability.
We started adopting fourteen years ago after we lost our three natural children. The first two children we adopted came from Germany (Johnathon) and Louisiana (Ronee' Le-Anne). We then added seven more, instantly swelling our small family of four to a family of nine seemingly overnight. The children have kept on coming ever since; we just added our sixtieth child, a little three-year-old boy from Finland who was born blind and deaf--and an albino child.
We didn't plan on adopting so many children, but God put it into our hearts that we were to become the parents to these needy children; the rest of His plan just fell into place, and there you go. We now have a burgeoning family, and when someone uses the term "rainbow family" to describe us, we are that--and so much more. We are a true rainbow family: we have kids of all colors: tans, browns, reds, different shades of white (flesh color), yellows. And the hair: our kids have hair that is red, orange, blonde, ash, brown, auburn, even black.
Even though they may not look like us, the children are still ours, legally (and permanently). We are their parents, their caretakers, their support system. We are responsible for their well being and their welfare. We take care of them when they are sick, and we provide them with whatever they may need in life, whether it is clothes, shoes, school supplies, sporting equipment, medical appliances, or more importantly, love, discipline, guidance. Our kids are our world, and we wouldn't have it any way.
Now, most people can't imagine parenting more than two children, but we have a system that works. When chores are done, we have all the kids pitch in, even the more disabled ones. The littler kids get helped by the older kids, and the more able bodied children help those whose bodies have betrayed them. We teach t hem right from wrong, and we teach them how to function in a world not geared for their disabilities. If they fail, then it's okay; we just tell them to try again, and not to give up.
We may have our own busy lives (especially me!), but we try to make time for the children, and we let them do as they please (only as long as they don't endanger themselves or others); we let them be kids. We also let them express themselves through music or singing, and sometimes during the summer all of us will get together and perform across the south, bringing our Cajun music to the people, which they seem to enjoy.
Adoption has opened up a whole new world for us, and even though it has been hard at times, we aren't sorry we chose the adoption option. If it were not for us, the kids wouldn't have had a chance to succeed in life, and they would still be languishing, unloved, in hospitals, orphanages, or institutions. We wanted to show these hurting children that we cared, so we opened up our great big hearts and took them into our home to raise as our own.
The children have flourished like spring flowers, and they have come a long way. Doctors are amazed at how well they are doing (for the most part), and teachers are amazed at how well behaved they are. They are all bright kids, and they are all doing fantastically well in school.
We couldn't be any happier than we are right now. God has blessed us beyond measure with these children, and I am glad that we adopted them. They are ours, forever and ever, and we are a true "Forever Family".
~Written by Louisiana Sandusky (Nashville, Tennessee, mamma to sixty children, most with special needs). :D
Our children (let's see if I can remember 'em all; there'll be a test later! *grins*):
Ronee' Le-Anne (Louisiana); Johnathon (Germany); Rani Kalpana and Arjun Ravi (Sri Lanka); Bjorn Wilhem (Finland); Emma-Ruth (Vietnam); Opal Mae (China); Emir Muhammed (Iraq); Habir Vijay (India); Sun Hee (Korea); Tri Tich Anh (Vietnam); Enriquesa (Guatemala); Monica (Guatemala); Mario (Italy); Christiana (Malaysia); Jo-El (Connecticut); Tran Tich Anh (Vietnam); Rhiannon (Texas); Sunshine Lee and Andre' Joseph (Vietnam); Jameela (India); Heather (Louisiana); LaGloria (New York); Loueva and LaVella (Arizona); Trude Annike (Holland); Roberto (Mexico); Sergei Ivan (Russia); Kwame' (Africa); Benjamin (Canada); Megan and Michelle (China); Jeraldo (Mexico); Jodie (Korea); Gemini (Japan); Starlight Melody (Vietnam); Louise and Elise (Louisiana); Camey and Tammi (Korea); Janica (Romania); Danita (Bosnia-Hergezovina); Deborah (Iran); Gabriel Abrahiam (Israel); Summer Song (Korea); Barbara (Louisiana); Michael and Stephanie (Canada); Richard (Utah); Anh Kim (Vietnam); Tanya (Texas); Dwerlina (Louisiana); Melizza (Africa); Dianna (Utah); Lightning (Africa); Gisele (France); Sylvia Amobiye (Malaysia); Kecia (New York); Todd (Indiana); and Porter (Ohio).
P.S.: If I missed a few, I wouldn't be surprised! LOL At least I remembered MOST of them! LOL
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Reviewed by d. k
5/2/2007
This family is like a mini school......oh, what fun they must have!! Wonderful write my friend. I honestly don't know how you can remember all the children's names......lololol! Keep on writing!!
I love this my friend...I had a thought while reading this wonderful entry. The line about others not being able to imagine parenting more than two children triggered this thought! Each year I come to feel as though my students are my children, I refer to them as my kids often. I can't believe that I will be letting my class of first graders go in twenty days! I get so emotionally attached to my students and I have two little boys that I retained last year that I have had now for two years, I can't quite imagine my classroom without them next year! Both little boys lack attention at home, and have required and demanded much of my attention. The other day my principal paid me a wonderful compliment...he told me that I not only had been the children's teacher, but their friend and their mother! So I can see how one can get attached and could mother more than two children. I have two natural children, two grandchildren, and each school year at least twenty five children....love these entries so very much!
Blessings,
Joyce Bowling
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