Truly a loss

We just found out that one of our children's birth fathers passed away. We are so sad that this child will never get to meet that wonderful man. Scott and I were honored to meet the birth mother of this child as well as the birth father. Pretty rare in the adoption world. We have pictures and video of our short time together at the hospital just after this child's birth and we will treasure that time always.

We knew his health was not good when we met him and wondered just how long he would be alive. We had hoped he would still be with us when our child turned 18 so they could meet. We have told this child about his birth father since he was very young. He has always known that they, together as a husband and wife chose our family for him. They wanted us to consider them as part of our family, raising their child. They hoped that we could offer their child the life they could only dream about.

People come into our lives for very specific reasons. Sometimes we never know why and other times it's crystal clear. Our lives were changed for the better having met this wonderful man. How grateful we are to have had that opportunity. To be able to tell our child, "You have the same wonderful sense of humor that your birth father had!" or "You have the same beautiful eyes he had" is a treasure we will never take for granted.

I remember something he said to us that I will never forget. "Ya'll are very white and we are very black. Are you ok with that?"

Ronnie, we both love the same sweet child. We may have been more alike than you will ever know. You will be missed.