Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Miracle #6-Adoption saved my life

Being adopted saved my life. It made me become a different person. It made me give up the notion that no one cared for me. It made me realize what family really was. It made me have to become something. It changed me for the better. This is my adoption story. 

My brother and I were not born into the greatest circumstances. Our birth mom was addicted to drugs and as such we were not properly cared for. At about 3 and 4 years old my brother and I were taken from our family and placed into the system. 

When I tell people my story they always mention how hard it must have been being in foster care. For me, I have never thought of it being hard. Instead it was a way of life. It wasn’t weird that every few months I would change homes, every few months I would have a new mommy and a new daddy, every few months I would I have new brothers and sisters. To me it was just a way of life. 

When my brother and I were first put into foster care we were placed together for a time, but it didn’t last, eventually we were split up. I still remember a lot of the foster families that I stayed with. I dont remember them all by name but I remember them by memory. There’s the family that took me hiking in the mountains, the family that built snow caterpillars with me in the winter, the family that took care of me when I had the chicken pox, the family that took me on a picnic, the list goes on and on. These families will forever be branded in my memory for their kindness towards me. I admit that not all memories were good but the majority of them were. To this day I am still friends with two my foster families and I love them so very much. 

When I was about 7 years old a woman named Lisa came to visit me while I was at one of my foster families. I had heard that she was going to be adopting my brother Jacob. Little did I know she would be the last person that I would ever call mommy. I was adopted in December of 2000. 

My adoption story didn’t end there though. My parents spent many moments helping me to get through the trauma I had been through in such a short life. I dont know how many times I yelled at them to take me back to the agency and that I didn’t need them. I remember one specific time when I was about 8 years old, I was standing in the hallway of my home completely furious. I didn’t think about what I was saying and I yelled at my mom that I didn’t need her and she could just take me back, her job of taking care of me was done. I remember she looked at me deeply and said, "Taija we are never going to take you back! This is your home now." That memory still means so much to me. I realized then that my parents were in it for the long haul. No matter what tantrums I threw or mischief I caused I was theirs, forever and they were mine.  

The purpose of my aunt’s blog is that adoption is an option. I think many times people may think that there is no way they could be so cruel to give up their child for adoption. The thing is giving up a child for adoption is not cruel and it definitely does not mean you don’t care about them. In fact, giving your child up for adoption when you know that you don’t have the means to provide the life you wanted for them is one of the greatest sacrifices you can make. I am where I am today because I was adopted. 




3 comments:

  1. You were adopted into the BEST family! Thanks for sharing your story. Lisa loved you from the start and was so happy to keep you and Jacob together.

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  2. Glad you were adopted too, and that you were placed in an LDS home.... the Lord works in mysterious ways.

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  3. I remember your mom asking me for a recommendation when they were doing the paperwork to adopt you, and one of the questions I had to answer was "why do you think they want to adopt these children?". My first response, to tease your mom (I answered in her presence) was "because they are crazy!" But the real reason, and the one I put down (more or less, I don't remember my exact words) is because their hearts were full of love and they wanted to give you a happy life. It looks like they did exactly that. And now you are paying it forward. It is a blessing to know ALL of you. (Renee Kerr)

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