Legacy of An Adopted Child

Once there were two women who never knew each other...
One you do not remember,
the other you call mother.
Two different lives, shaped to make Your one...
One became your guiding star,
the other became your sun.
The first gave you life,
and the second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love,
and the second was there to give it.
One gave you a nationality,
the other gave you a name.
One gave you a seed of talent,
the other gave you an aim.
One gave you emotions,
the other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile,
the other dried your tears.
One gave you up...that's all she could do.
The other prayed for a child and God led her straight to you.

And now you ask me, through your fears,
the age old question unanswered throughout the years...
Heredity or environment...
which are you the product of...
Neither my darling...neither...
just two different kinds of love.

-Author Unknown-

This poem was found on the back of a program from the upcoming movie "Bella." We were lucky in Lees Summit to be able to have a pre-screening, offered free to members of the community who have a heart for adoption (sponsored by Royals player Mike Sweeney). The movie has won many awards but was very low budget, so will only premier in the larger cities in mid-late October. If it does come to your city, I would STRONGLY recommend it---it's a great story of adoption and love. Jason and I really enjoyed it, and were especially impressed by the lead actor, who was there to answer questions. He is very famous in Mexico, sort of the 'Mexican Brad Pitt,' but has decided to only do movies that are made with decency and utmost integrity. We were amazed by his testimony and his commitment to what he really believes.

Have a great day!
Alissa

WE'RE IN THE 240'S!

The official announcment just arrived:
America World is excited to announce that we received 19 healthy referrals today! Families had log in dates of 11/22/05 & 11/24/05. The girls are from the Guangxi & Jiangxi provinces & ranged in age from 6 months to 11 1/2 months. Please join us as we congratulate each of these families!

Jason and I are beyond excited! These two log in dates represent groups 239, and yes, FINALLY, group 240! This means only 3 more groups to go and then it will be our turn! (As if I haven't said it 3000 times, we are group 244). So the big question is, when? If the referrals keep coming as they have the past 3 months, I think the earliest referral date would be November (fly in Dec/Jan), the latest would be January (fly Feb/Mar). In the meantime, we are celebrating like crazy as we've been waiting for a long time to be this close!

Thank you to those of you who have shared in our excitement today. It's truly frightening to think how I'll be acting when it really is our turn! Also, congratulations to our friends the Peltons, who we met way back when at our adoption class at Adoption and Beyond. Here is their website if you are interested: http://www.freewebs.com/peltonadoption/. We can't wait to meet Makenna!

Have a great night!

Love,
Leila's family