ON BEING A MOM TO MANY

I never imagined that I would be parenting five children as a single mom in her mid-fifties. When my life took a turn I wondered what would come of it, how I would go forward after two decades as a couple. At first were the months of anxiety and fear of the future, but as I began to find my footing God started to open some wonderful doors.

I have always been a stay at home mom, since becoming a mom. I hadn't worked outside the home in almost twenty years and didn't feel that it would be a good time to start, having young children that still needed raising.

I have two wonderful, adopted children, a daughter, from Mexico and the younger, a boy, from the U.S. My son was born heroin and methadone addicted at birth and was diagnosed hearing impaired at age 10. Because of his late diagnoses he has suffered a large language delay. We are working hard to narrow that gap before he starts high school in the next couple of years.

We have been blessed with a lovely home on a couple of acres of property out in the country, with room to grow. I have always wanted to adopt or foster more children, it was something that we often talked about as a couple. It was something that could never materialize while living abroad, in South America.

As I began to ponder my life and future as a single parent I realized the opportunity I had to fulfill my years long dream of adding more children to our home. It has been a journey of learning, loving and living, and I am truly happy to have chosen this path for my life. It has been a tremendous experience. When parenting children that have gone through very difficult situations and separations it is not always a positive experience, there are days when I am frazzled. However, I have been so grateful for the many opportunities I've been given in parenting all my children.

If I can make a difference in the lives of these children then I feel I have fulfilled a dream. They come and they go, but if they can take along a piece of any good thing that I've been able to give them then it has been a worthy sacrifice. These children have things to achieve and places to go in their lives. I love the discipline of approaching each day with open eyes for the needs of all of them, each with their own unique and individual personalities, and helping them find their way down the path of life. I look forward to what the future holds.