Lots of people ask Josh and I how our extended family members feel about our family. I know a lot of people have family members who are not always supportive of their adoptions (although I know lots of people who have very supportive extended families too).

Well, today I am going to talk about my Dad and my Auntie, just to show you how supportive they are. My Dad is a single father, and he is really amazing. My Auntie has pretty much taken over the role of “Mom” in my life, and she is the Aileen we are naming Belane Anna Aileen after.

When we told them that we were adopting another child and that she was HIV+, they were outrageously supportive. I am sure they have their concerns, but they showed their love for us first by offering their unconditional support.

One of our biggest concerns when we started Belane’s adoption was paying for it. With nine kids and an average income we don’t have piles of extra money laying around and we had just borrowed a decent amount to pay for Benjamin’s adoption. We looked into and applied for several grants, borrowed some, saved some and had faith the rest would work out.

Chances by Choice offered to do a fundraiser for us, and they printed up a letter with a photo of Blen and her story and a little bit about us and sent it to their donor list (with very small results). They said that some other adoptive families sent these mailers to friends and family, but we just didn’t feel comfortable with that. When I mentioned the fund raiser to my Dad, he asked that I send him one. He said that since part of his job is political fundraising, that he would be more than happy to do some fundraising for us.

He added a personal letter to the flyer that CBC made and my Auntie made copies, addressed and stuffed envelopes and sent out 350 mailers to political friends and colleagues. My Dad is not the kind of guy to ask people for favors, so I was really touched that he was doing so on our behalf.

Here is a part of the letter that he sent. I hope it gives you an idea of what kind of guy my Dad is.

Dear Friend,

I have most likely reached out to you many times in the past to raise money for worthwhile political or charitable causes. This time is different.

The old saying goes, “Charity begins at home.” In this case it is extremely appropriate.

Let me take a few moments to tell you about my daughter and son-in-law, Erin and Josh. God blessed them with three biological children, Nathan, Ryan and Shane. Most people would have said they had done their procreation duty and called it a day. Not Erin and Josh.

To date, they have adopted a little girl from Vietnam, Maggie, another little from Korea, Amanda, three African American children from the US, Mercades, Destinee and Marcus and one little boy from Ethiopia, Benjamin. If you’ve been counting, yes, that’s nine children to date.

It would be the height of understatement to tell you how proud I am of Erin and Josh. While most people I know talk about saving the world, they are actually doing it, one child at a time. No, they are not rich, at least not in monetary terms. They have a big home and big hearts.

Now, let me tell you about Blen. Erin and Josh met Blen in Ethiopia earlier this year when they were adopting their son Benjamin. Blen is a beautiful 2 ½ year old girl. She is also an orphan and she is HIV+. Blen will be my tenth grandchild.

If you can find it in your heart to make a charitable donation to Chances by Choice the money can be ear-marked for the expenses in Erin and Josh’s adoption of Blen. Please help Erin and Josh save another little part of the world.

Sincerely,
Mike D. aka Papa


Yes, my Dad really uses words like “procreation duty”. Gotta love him!!!! Although I do not really see Josh and I as “saving the world” (nor are we trying to) because we are adopting children that we know in our hearts are meant to be with us and that we truly desire to parent, I do appreciate my Dad’s view on our family.

Anyway, I wanted to share this with you so you could see how awesome my Dad is (and my Auntie, who actually did all the work and got all the paper cuts!). They are both an awesome reminder that family is what it’s all about.