So today we went to celebrate Birthmom's Day. The official day is actually next Saturday, always the Saturday right before Mother's Day. However, the agency's been busy, so they choose this weekend to celebrate the sacrifice Birthmoms go through and the selfless love they have for their children. We were invited to attend, as were all adoptive couples, those waiting to adopt, birthmom's, families, and the community.
We went and while there weren't very many people there, it was fantastic. It was kind of our way of saying thanks to R in a way that we can't right now. And it's so important to support these women and the choices they've made so that they know how valued and respected they are.
They had a birthmom (whose daughter is now 21 and she now has two other children who were there) speak to us about her story. It was so touching (and I bawled through it all). In short, her initial reaction was to have an abortion. However, after some loving guidance from her sister, she decided to place the baby for adoption. She received updates/pictures/phone calls from the family, but it was always up to the child as to when she actually would meet her birthmom. One day the child called her. What she said to her was that she never knew the words to say, but one day she heard a song and it was exactly what she wanted to say. The song is by Mark Schultz, a Christian singer, and his song is called "Everything to Me". You see, he was adopted and he wrote this song to his birthmom, even though he never knew her. Here's a video of the story:
Then they played the song for us. Adn again, I bawled. It's exactly how I want Anna to feel about her birthmom. It's everything I want her birthmom to know about her life. It's my new favorite song and it's so touching.
After hearing this lady speak and watching these videos, they gave us balloons to let go. We were told to write on it anything we wanted and here's our picture!
And then, as if it hadn't been enough of a moving and emotional day, we went grocery shopping. And while in the checkout at the grocery store, a lady behind me asked if Jeremy (who had walked away for a minute) was my husband. I said yes, and she then asked if Anna was adopted. I said yes and she explained that both of her children were adopted as well. Then, as we were talking, the guy in front of me in the checkout says "I couldn't help but overhear, we adopted our daughter from Ethiopia!" And then another lady sitting near us said "We do Foster Care and our children were adopted as well!" Um, weird! It was really cool to share stories and to see such wonderful happy families all built through adoption. It was just one of those moments where you ask yourself, did that really just happen?
What a beautiful and uplifting day!
2 comments:
oh my gosh - you were right about the tears!
thank you for sharing!
What a beautiful story and song! I rarely stop to think about the birthmoms involved in adoption. It's so nice that you celebrate her and are committed to giving Anna a healthy view of being an adopted child. I think people have a tendency to think that adopted kids were not loved by their birth parents. It's so important to remember that it's not that they don't love them, it's that they love them SO MUCH that they want them to have the best life possible even if it means not being with them. What a beautiful sacrifice! Thank you for that perspective.
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