What's My Story? Pay it Forward

For those of you who don't know, I was adopted. For those of you who have known me for over 20 years, you have known it has been a long term goal; a desire to be able to give an opportunity to a little girl who might otherwise would have not had one.

I was abandoned in a hospital as a newborn and lived in an orphanage until 5 months, when my parents adopted me. They were living in Manila at the time. My parents have two biological children; my brother, who is three years older and my sister, who is three years younger than me. My siblings are pretty cool. Growing up I didn't think so, but as I look at our relationship now, they have accepted me unconditionally, despite the fact that I am not their biological sibling. I think this speaks volumes about their personalities and their ability to accept anyone for who they are.

So I was given a chance. Chances like being able to have my own bike, to play tennis and to go to college. A chance to be raised by a family with immense love and support. A chance to have my own family to share support and to teach my children to love unconditionally. I am pretty grateful for all these chances and the best way I can express my gratitude is by paying it forward.

Let's Rock and Roll

Many of you know that Colin and I began the adoption process back in May 2007. It's now September 2009 and I had a feeling our time was imminent with regard to a phone call from our adoption agency, Wide Horizons. We had just completed the paperwork to file for an extension as it was approaching its expiration date.

Yesterday, we got our long awaited phone call with the exciting news that we have received our referral! So began the phone tree to our family and very close friends, checking email, seeing her picture and printing out of all the paperwork to finalize the process. We are excited-so excited I was up at 3:00 am. I close with one of my favorite sayings from back in the day when I taught tennis camp at Emory University: "It's time to rock and roll". Thanks for joining us on our journey.