The road to adoption can sometimes be lonely, and I’m not currently a parent through adoption, but I must imagine that the road after adoption can be lonely, too. I mean it makes sense, right? My family will come together in a different way. My child may act differently due to certain circumstances, and he/she will not look like Eli or me. Talking about adoption and how we got here can sometimes make people uncomfortable, and I understand that. That’s just our path right now. So, yes, at times I feel lonely. I feel different. Maybe even un-relatable.

However, support in the world of adoption means everything. I know it may feel awkward to give it or that you’re worried about saying or doing the wrong thing, but acknowledging what we are constantly thinking about and going through means so much. We’ve been incredibly blessed to be supported in a wide variety of ways throughout our adoption journey, and it means the absolute world to us. That support is what continues to fuel our fire in building our family in what we know is the best way possible for us. Sometimes this support is in the form of a card from a friend at work who always seems to know the exact right thing to say and when to say it. Other times it’s a quick text message to check in and see how we are doing and knowing that we may not be able to tell you what we need at that time. It has been the person/people who always ask, knowing that we never forget. It’s the person that doesn’t mention the adoption, but knows that we don’t have kids at home, and are sure to see what we are up to. It’s the prayers, the tears, the hugs, and the love. It’s all of it, but most of all it’s just acknowledging.

So bottom line—THANK YOU! Thank you for being there. Thank you for the cards. Thank you for the books. Thank you for the prayers. Thank you for listening. Thank you for reading our blog. And thank you for loving us—all of us. In our happy moments, our sad moments, our weird moments, and our moments of uncertainty. Keep it coming because we want you to know we need it. See in this case, it doesn’t just take a village to raise a child. It takes a village to build our family.

~Chelsea