“‘It’s a part of who they are, where they come from,’ the social worker explained to us as we looked to bring David home. For her healing and his, Laura had encouraged Shayla to name him at the hospital. But…

Truth is, I am the one who gets up in the middle of the night, fixes boo boos, knows my child’s needs, takes the hits — it doesn’t get any more real than that. I am not playing a game…

“Well, they’re just selfish!” I loved Juno, but this one statement hit too close to home. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Adoptive placements had come really quickly for us. This was the longest wait we had ever…

“You’re open to every race, even black?” Her words caught me by such surprise, like a punch in the gut. Some might say I have lived a life of white privilege, and before now, I would have had no idea…

I was a frame of my former self, breathing, heart beating, but hardly alive. It had been three months since we lost Daniel and I still walked with an emptiness in my soul.

“Can we see some pictures?” Those few words changed my life. I had just walked into the teacher staff room, hands cold, still holding onto late winter's chill. A small purple note lay in my mailbox, barely noticable with first…