an angel.

met one today. an angel, that is. she is a mom at the school noah goes to and we all chat everyday. she's seems very kind and involved in her little girl's life. i am not sure what her daughter is diagnosed with, but her mom is without a doubt her biggest cheerleader. i learned a couple things about this mom today. first, that she has two other children. i believe she is a single mom, but did not want to ask. and last... that she chose her children. my heart skipped a beat. she adopted all three of her kids. now, i am certainly no expert on adoption (having known only two families personally that have done it), but i know it's expensive and can be exhausting (emotionally, physically, etc.). She said something about "birth parents" and although I was surprised I tried not to show it. She said, "yes, all of my kids are adopted." I immediately smiled. She told me she was really fortunate to have been able to adopt locally. She went on to say how it saved her so much time, energy and money. I was dumbfounded! I had no idea this was available in my community! Apparently in our county (the county for Tampa actually)resides a non-profit organization that places special children. The more she talked, the more I could see she was truly an angel. She said that the organization houses children that have special needs or multiple siblings that they try to keep together. And older kids that have a lower likelihood of adoption. And I tried to inquire about the cost of this, without being too pushy. She just offered this information and said "it was $250 per child." Yes, you read right. All the zeros are there. $250 per child. Her oldest two are siblings and she got them together and her youngest is special needs. As she is telling me about her beautiful children she was glowing... and perhaps I was too. I wanted to hug her. I wanted to tell her how she moved me.

I came home and immediately looked up this organization. If you live in the Tampa area and:

-know someone that is looking to adopt
-work in a place that raises funds for local non-profits (this would be a great one!)
-are looking for a place to donate or volunteer

then take a look at this site. They are Everyday Blessings and I'm sure Noah and I will be heading down there soon to help them out!

http://www.everydaybless.org/