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STEVE
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This is my daughter in her element...
Wide open spaces
No fears
Nature her guide
No anxiety
Experience her teacher
No demands to perform
As a parent I spent years buying into the belief that my daughter and our family needed to fit into
a “box” that the educational system and others had constructed. As a child (and adult) I prided
myself on being able to figure out and succeed at society’s spoken and unspoken rules.
Unfortunately, I was all too comfortable with this social order. As a parent I played by these rules
far too long, allowing my daughter to be pushed and stuffed into this “box”. I assumed the
educational system was the most qualified to understand what was best for our child.
I was wrong.
Over the last several years my wife and I have fought for our daughter’s rights. We have shed
tears, become angered and spoken out against attempts and actions that neglect to recognize her
abilities, strengths and potential…and we have made a difference. It is at these moments that I
have become a better father, a better husband, a better person. My daughter has taught me the
single most important lesson of my life…a lesson I continue to require on a regular basis.
The way in which she lives and experiences life is a gift – not a disability.
I only hope that at the end of each and every day she knows how proud I am of her.
“Steve”
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Our family was formed by adoption
I believe God brought us together for a reason. The grief and loss we have experienced as
individuals and as a family have helped us to realize the importance of connection, love, and
family. We are blessed to have an open adoption with our daughter’s birth family. This allows her
to have contact and relationships with a critical part of who she is.
When working with adoptive families and birth families…please recognize the importance of
these relationships – even those that are kept silent.
One way to honor our family is to ask us about our adoption story.
It is a beautiful story that we love to share.
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