My Husband Ate All The Ice Cream: How Important Is Your Family
Thursday, June 9, 2011
How important is your family to you?
There will be no Free Advice Thursday today, for two reasons. One- I'm running low on questions to answer, and two- I have something MUCH more important to talk about. I am lending my stage to a friend, to talk about something I recently became very passionate about, thanks to her and her story.
I have a friend, LouAnn, and her and her husband are trying DESPERATELY to adopt a little boy from Eastern Europe. Here is a message from her:
Okay, so we made the big announcement back in April. We were expecting! A few people even got a taste of their toes when they mentioned how they thought I had that 'pregnant' look. Well, as they began their "really?"'s and the "uh uh uh wow", I proceeded to tell them, 'yup, we're expecting.....a 3 year old... so just in case you're wondering that why my belly is so big.' Oh bless their hearts.
Anyway, so those who know that 2+2=4, knows that means we are adopting. So here's the kicker....a special needs child.....pause......inserted for the upcoming gasps. Now I stand with my hands folded as the mini processors compute their ammunition of questions. What? Why? How? Are you Sure? Do you realize x, y, and z?
Oh, if I could just have a $1 for every one of the questions and $2 for the duplicates.
Okay, I know I'm being just a tiny bit cynical. But, seriously, especially those who know me so well... do you really think that miss analytical, miss debater hasn't thought of all those things? I know they are just trying to help and contemplate all their own insecurities. Here's the best one though.....does David know? By the way, that's my husband of 8 years. Oh how the sarcasm begins to simmer! Nope, he doesn't know, its a surprise... I'm going to wrap it up and give it to him.
Alright, well, I feel better already. I've been trying so hard to remain positive and have swallowed so much sarcasm soup I have the squirts! Truthfully, I am uber grateful for all the generosity thus far. So I take a little immodium with a smile and hold it in.....until now. LOL!
Did I mention that this is going to cost $25,000. Yup, for real. Oh I did I mention that our family, like many who have traveled this road, fundraise nearly all of that money? Most of us who have become part of the Reece's Rainbow family have much deeper hearts than pocket books. Most of us are not first time parents who are unable to conceive and have various fertility benefits available for the adoption cost. Most of us have a deep inner calling to share the love our family has with a child who is not wanted because they are "disabled."
LouAnn's story is funny, and cynical.... but the urgency of the situation is not. Some of these differently-abled kids that are awaiting adoption are in big trouble. When they reach the age of 4 or 5, instead of continuing to be able to be adopted, they are institutionalized. Medicated, and bed-ridden for the rest of their lives with no hope of therapy, or anything to improve their quality of life. LouAnn and Dave are in a desperate race to try and bring their child, Jeremy, and possibly another little one, home as soon as possible.
As she mentioned, most of the money they get is through fundraising. At first, I didn't understand WHY anyone would just give someone money for this. But then... I spent HOURS pouring through the photos of the kids waiting to be adopted on the Reece's Rainbow website. Sobbing. I was sobbing the whole fucking time. I begged my husband to agree to adopt little Natalia. I started showing him the pictures..... and he couldn't bring himself to look anymore. He said he simply just doesn't think he could pick just one. All these kids have amazing, yet sad stories that surround their young lives.
Which is why I'masking begging you to help LouAnn and Dave. They are doing something so incredibly unselfish, and so amazing. There are several things you can do to help:
1. I'm not even joking when I say that LouAnn has offered to shave all of the thick, red locks off of her head for a large sum of money. And then donate it to Locks of Love to boot. You can be the one that makes it for them. Or, you can help find a company that would be willing to do this.
2. Just donate. You can do that on the Reece's Rainbow site.
3. Buy a T-shirt, or if you are in the central Iowa area, they are making and selling enchiladas to raise money as well. You can find out more about the t-shirts and enchiladas here.
4. If you have any other ideas for fundraisers, please share them.
5. If you have a blog, copy and paste this post on there, and contact her and tell her you are doing so. Give her a bigger audience to reach out to, so she can get more help and ideas.
6. If you can't donate right now, or if you want to help support Dave and LouAnn, and see the glorious moment when they finally get to bring their baby home, follow her blog, A Real Family In Iowa, and help spread the word by grabbing one of her badges and putting it on your blog.
I have a friend, LouAnn, and her and her husband are trying DESPERATELY to adopt a little boy from Eastern Europe. Here is a message from her:
Anyway, so those who know that 2+2=4, knows that means we are adopting. So here's the kicker....a special needs child.....pause......inserted for the upcoming gasps. Now I stand with my hands folded as the mini processors compute their ammunition of questions. What? Why? How? Are you Sure? Do you realize x, y, and z?
Oh, if I could just have a $1 for every one of the questions and $2 for the duplicates.
Okay, I know I'm being just a tiny bit cynical. But, seriously, especially those who know me so well... do you really think that miss analytical, miss debater hasn't thought of all those things? I know they are just trying to help and contemplate all their own insecurities. Here's the best one though.....does David know? By the way, that's my husband of 8 years. Oh how the sarcasm begins to simmer! Nope, he doesn't know, its a surprise... I'm going to wrap it up and give it to him.
Alright, well, I feel better already. I've been trying so hard to remain positive and have swallowed so much sarcasm soup I have the squirts! Truthfully, I am uber grateful for all the generosity thus far. So I take a little immodium with a smile and hold it in.....until now. LOL!
Did I mention that this is going to cost $25,000. Yup, for real. Oh I did I mention that our family, like many who have traveled this road, fundraise nearly all of that money? Most of us who have become part of the Reece's Rainbow family have much deeper hearts than pocket books. Most of us are not first time parents who are unable to conceive and have various fertility benefits available for the adoption cost. Most of us have a deep inner calling to share the love our family has with a child who is not wanted because they are "disabled."
LouAnn's story is funny, and cynical.... but the urgency of the situation is not. Some of these differently-abled kids that are awaiting adoption are in big trouble. When they reach the age of 4 or 5, instead of continuing to be able to be adopted, they are institutionalized. Medicated, and bed-ridden for the rest of their lives with no hope of therapy, or anything to improve their quality of life. LouAnn and Dave are in a desperate race to try and bring their child, Jeremy, and possibly another little one, home as soon as possible.
Which is why I'm
1. I'm not even joking when I say that LouAnn has offered to shave all of the thick, red locks off of her head for a large sum of money. And then donate it to Locks of Love to boot. You can be the one that makes it for them. Or, you can help find a company that would be willing to do this.
2. Just donate. You can do that on the Reece's Rainbow site.
3. Buy a T-shirt, or if you are in the central Iowa area, they are making and selling enchiladas to raise money as well. You can find out more about the t-shirts and enchiladas here.
4. If you have any other ideas for fundraisers, please share them.
5. If you have a blog, copy and paste this post on there, and contact her and tell her you are doing so. Give her a bigger audience to reach out to, so she can get more help and ideas.
6. If you can't donate right now, or if you want to help support Dave and LouAnn, and see the glorious moment when they finally get to bring their baby home, follow her blog, A Real Family In Iowa, and help spread the word by grabbing one of her badges and putting it on your blog.
Please don't just walk away from this post. Do something. I usually get about 500 pageviews a day. If you all donated $1, she would be that much closer. Please.
UPDATE: The day this post was published, it had about 300 views. Then, around midnight, a friend of mine managed to get the link to the post re-tweeted by LL Cool J, on twitter, and it now has over 1,000 page views. So.... thanks to LL Cool J for helping LouAnn & Dave out!
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