A Letter To My Possible Future Children

Dear Nyree and Isaiah,

Tomorrow your future will be decided. People who care about you very much will get together and talk about several families and which one will provide the best home for you. They will think very carefully and make a very important decision. If our family is chosen, I will be honored to be your mother.

I promise to love you unconditionally. No matter how life's events unfold, you will always know that you are precious to me.

Each day I dream of all the wonderful things we'll do together as a family. We'll take you to the park. Play with the dogs in the back yard. Eat homemade popsicles in the summer. Cheer for Dave when he finishes the Pittsburgh marathon. Snuggle together and watch cartoons on Saturday mornings. Enjoy beautiful music together.

You will have a large and loving family, with many cousins to play with. Your cousins may become your best friends, as mine did for me. Everyone is so looking forward to having you join our family.

As you grow up, you will travel around the world with us. I want you to see and experience so many things, to have the opportunity to know different places, people, and cultures. This was a wonderful gift that my parents gave to me and I will pass it on to you.

When you are sad, angry, or hurt, I will listen and acknowledge your feelings. I will kiss your tears away and hold you until your sadness abates. I won't ask you to stop crying, or tell you that everything is okay, when clearly it is not.

I will respect your ethnic and cultural heritage. I will keep a Life Book for you, so that you will know your origins and history. I will never condemn your birth family or make you feel ashamed of where you came from.

When you are ready to talk about your adoption, I will be honest with you about everything leading up to your arrival in our family. If you need to search for answers and find your birth family, I will help you.

If I am not chosen to be your mother, that means that another family will experience the joy and privilege of raising you. I will mourn my loss, and through my tears I will wish you a home full of happiness and love, joy and adventure, and the fulfillment of all your dreams.

Love,

Tara