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Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to get to know us a bit by reading this letter. We are Bill and Elizabeth, and we very much want to welcome a second child into our hearts, our home, and our lives. We were incredibly blessed to adopt our son, Will, and eagerly look forward to becoming parents for a second time. We have so much more love to give to another child. We are very close to our siblings, and we want to create a home in which Will and a little sister or brother can share the special relationship that siblings form together. If you choose us, your child will have loving parents and a big brother to welcome and love him or her. We have already embraced adoption as an exciting and comfortable choice, and we hope to expand our family with the adoption of a second child.
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We don’t want to simply “have” more children – but to build and raise a family together, with God’s grace. Some friends of ours, who also face the challenge of infertility, adopted a young daughter. As the adoptive mother so movingly said, “All children come from God.” These beautiful words capture for us our motivation to pursue adoption.
We have profound respect and compassion for you as you make this decision. Your decision is so difficult but shows your great depth of maturity, courage, and love for your child. Your gift of life to your child is something that we will always treasure, honor and respect. Should you entrust us with your child, he or she will often be told of your immeasurable love and your desire to make the best life possible for him or her.
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Elizabeth writes: Bill has a wonderful smile, and he is warm, caring, compassionate, fun, and smart. Often, he will look at me with his twinkling eyes, and dimpled smile, and call me his “buddy.” In many ways, that little phrase describes our deep friendship, and I know that I can count on Bill through thick and thin, in good times and in bad.
Bill comes from a large family, and is the sixth of seven children. As one of the youngest children, Bill has a very cheerful personality and always looks on the “bright side of life.” He can find a silver lining to almost any cloud, and he often starts the day by telling a joke or singing a little song to make me laugh.
While he is fun-loving, Bill is also extremely responsible and family-oriented. One of his job responsibilities is to oversee discipline and safety for a college. Many people look to him for advice, guidance and to fix problems, and he is always there for family and friends.
From the moment he saw little Will, hours after his birth, Bill was a natural. Tears immediately sprang to his eyes, as he greeted his little son. They adore each other, and he is such a wonderful father. Bill loves spending time with Will, and their bond is so strong. Will’s nightly bath has become a favorite father/son routine, and Will always smiles when Bill calls him his “sweet baby boy.” And, Will just lights up when his Papa walks into the room or when he hears his voice.
Bill’s dad and two of his brothers are engineers. I think this explains why he can fix just about anything! He loves to work around the house on home-improvement projects, and to shop at hardware stores. He enjoys fishing and boating, and looks forward to taking our child camping and to teach him or her how to catch a fish! I am so very fortunate to have married my best friend. Bill is an amazing husband, and I know he will be a wonderful father.
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Bill writes: Elizabeth is quite simply the best thing that ever happened to me! For years, I thought I might never get married because I had never found the right girl. But when I met Elizabeth, I knew that I had met my best friend and that I wanted her to be my wife and spend the rest of my life with her. From our first date, there were a few things about Elizabeth, besides her beauty, that were so obvious to me – that she is smart, loving, and dedicated to her faith and family. Elizabeth’s strength of character and commitment to doing the right thing, even when it might not be easy, has made me a better person (and a better father) than I would otherwise have been.
Elizabeth is an amazing mom. She comes by this naturally, probably since as the oldest child in her big family, she was surrounded by kids to watch, entertain, or just play with. Our house is full of joy these days, as Elizabeth has a gift for making Will laugh and giggle, even when it’s time for his messy diaper to be changed! Each morning begins with a smile for me, as I hear her greeting Will, saying prayers with him and telling him about all the fun they have in store for the day, whether it be a walk around the neighborhood, playing with the dogs or sitting and reading a book together. Elizabeth gives so generously of herself and is so patient and loving with me and Will.
Elizabeth loves to learn new things. She has taught high-school English literature in the past and, particularly, loves to read. She’s a member of a book club, and no matter where we go, she always has a book handy to read in a free moment. It’s been a special joy of mine to come home on so many days to find Elizabeth sitting by the fire, reading to Will, helping him to learn and to develop a vivid imagination.
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We were so thrilled when Will’s birth parents chose and trusted us to love and provide their son with a loving and stable home. Having met them, we know what a huge decision this was for them and we are so very grateful to them for the precious gift they have given us. We send pictures and letters often so they know that Will is loved and thriving. We will tell Will that they love him very much and want to know how he is doing.
It is so much fun to watch Will grow and to experience the world. He is a really happy, good-natured child. He has the biggest, most contagious, smile, and he loves to laugh. We cherish each stage of his development, and take great pleasure in sharing new experiences with him. We believe that each child is born with his or her personality and strengths. It is our responsibility as parents to enhance the positives with love and encouragement, to help the child to learn to make good decisions and to give the child every opportunity to become the best possible person he or she can be. We have experienced no greater joy than being parents and look forward to a new addition to our family.
 Will surrounded by some of his cousins |
Will approaches the world with excitement and loves to play. Elizabeth enjoys taking Will to a weekly play group with children of all ages. They have also taken Kindermusik classes and parent/tot swim lessons together. Will really adores other children, and we know that he will be a wonderful big brother who will love and protect his little brother or sister. Your child would be welcomed into a loving family with two adoring parents, a big brother and many extended family members to offer their love and support.
We love every minute of parenthood, the joys and the challenges, and a day doesn’t pass where we don’t marvel at how blessed we are by our first child. We can’t wait to welcome another baby and experience the same feelings of love, joy and pride.
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We live on a quiet street, with sidewalks, in a very pleasant, suburban neighborhood, full of children, just a few minutes from the college where we work. Our house has plenty of room for kids, with a finished basement, a large kitchen, a living room with a fireplace and tons of books, and an all-season sun room that makes a great playroom. We are lucky enough to have a big yard with a gated pool (that has a safety cover) and even a tennis court that does double-duty as a playground for many of the neighborhood kids. It makes a perfect basketball court, and is a safe place to learn to skate or ride a bike.
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Bill enjoys working in the yard and Elizabeth helps with the flowers. This year she is looking forward to harvesting her second vegetable garden. The herbs and cherry tomatoes were especially delicious last year!
Our parish church is a short walk from our house, and our parish is warm and inviting, with an excellent grade school connected to it. Both of us are very involved in our church, and participate in volunteer activities in our community.
Our city has a small but fun downtown, with a great children’s zoo, an ice skating rink, a baseball team, golf courses and many parks with plenty of chances to explore nature. The college that we work at provides many entertainment opportunities as well, with sporting events, cultural events and lots of beautiful bike and walking paths. In the warm weather, Elizabeth loves to bring Will to visit Bill on campus for a family picnic lunch.
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Our two beagles, Gibson and Bogey, are great fun and are wonderful with children. They are quite a hit with our nieces and nephews and the neighborhood children all want to take care of them when we are out of town. The dogs are totally fascinated by Will, and Gibson especially follows Will around the house. Often, when Will plays on the floor, Gibson lies beside him – we think he’s already protecting his little buddy! |
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We both enjoy cooking, entertaining our friends, reading, listening to music, and watching the latest movie from Netflix. We like to swim and play tennis, and with the pool and tennis court, our home has become the perfect place to hang out and entertain during the summer months. We love the outdoors – camping and hiking – and especially walking and playing with our two beagles.
We both have large families. We each have six siblings, and together, we have 28 nieces and nephews (and counting!), a host of aunts, uncles and cousins and many close friends. We visit our families often – especially for holidays, baptisms, weddings, and on long summer vacations. Our parents each spend several weeks with us each year, and several of our siblings make our house their family vacation destination! Our large, receptive families are particularly suited to welcoming children, and they absolutely adore Will. If we are blessed with another adopted child, we know that they will all be so happy to share in that blessing.
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Education is incredibly important to us. Both of us graduated from college and from law school. We both now work at a university (although Elizabeth only works a few hours each week, and has a very flexible arrangement in which she works out of our home), and much of our life revolves around it – lectures, concerts, and athletic events. We will ensure that our children love to learn and are well-educated. A wonderful benefit of Bill’s long-time employment at the college is a tuition benefit for children.
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We like to travel – especially to see friends and family – and we plan to continue those travels with our children. We especially enjoy visiting historical places, and learning new things about our country and the world. We also enjoy traveling to see our friends. We are fortunate to have built and sustained incredible friendships over the years and these friendships greatly enrich our lives. We have a group of friends who live all around the country, and we get to see each other at annual sporting events, fishing and boating trips and other joint vacations.
 Visiting the historic sites in Boston. |
 Enjoying the sunset in Florida. |
 Staying warm in New York City. |
 Visiting Moscow, Russia. |
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Elizabeth writes: My family has influenced my life dramatically. I have very loving parents and had a very special closeness with my grandfather. I could not have better role models for being a loving parent.
One reason that I have always felt called to adopt is that I am adopted myself – by my father. My mother discovered she was pregnant with me when she was in college. My biological father did not support her decision to continue the pregnancy, so she moved back home with her parents. This was an especially difficult period in my mother’s life, as her own mother was sick with breast cancer and passed away when I was 9 months old. I am without the appropriate words to thank my mother for the gift of my life, and for the sacrifices she made on my behalf. My adoptive father met my mother when I was three years old, and shortly before I turned four, they got married and he adopted me as his own child. Before they got married, my mom asked him, “Do you think you will be able to love Elizabeth like you will love your own biological children someday?” He answered, with tears in his eyes, “I already do.” I have a memory of standing in the courtroom with him, as he answered the judge’s questions. My mom tells me that there wasn’t a dry eye in the courtroom when I quietly slipped my hand into his as he became my father. His generous gift of fatherhood and his love have significantly shaped my life.
Growing up, I also had a very special relationship with my grandfather, who passed away in 2005. I have vivid childhood memories of walking with him to the local library, where he would help me to pick out a good book to read. We would play card games together and then always ended the day with a special treat – making chocolate fudge or getting an ice cream sundae – with extra hot fudge! At night, he would always tuck me into bed, giving me a special blessing and teaching me the importance of prayer. I hope to carry on these traditions with our children.
I love to cook, swim, needlepoint, play the piano and read. As the oldest of seven children and now as Will’s mom, I have a great deal of practical experience with children and am very comfortable and confident around them. We are very fortunate that we are financially secure so that I am able to stay home to raise a family and to share my favorite hobbies with our children and help them to make wonderful memories.
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Bill writes: I come from a very close, loving and supportive family. Growing up with six brothers and sisters, there was always something going on, and always someone to play with. I have fond childhood memories of family vacations to the beach, visits to our grandparents, camping, snowball fights and sleigh riding with the kids in the neighborhood. Pretty much everything we did revolved around our parish and the grade school. In our house, big family dinners were common, and during the summer months, they usually ended with my brothers and sisters eating watermelon and saving the seeds, gathering them together and making my father quickly guess how many there were. Afterwards, he’d draw pictures of dinosaurs for the boys!
Growing up, I guess I enjoyed school, but I really enjoyed taking things apart and putting them back together again, and it was always a challenge to not have any parts left over! I suppose that’s why I enjoy working around the house these days.
In my family growing up, we were all expected to make our own spending money, so I had paper routes and worked with my dad some summers until college, when I had one of the greatest jobs ever – being a lifeguard at a beach. I was a boy scout and loved to camp and hike. I played baseball, soccer, and I still golf, swim and play tennis when I have time.
My brothers and sisters live around the country, which makes for fun vacations to go visit them. My parents have retired in good health and are lucky enough to live in a house on a beach, so each summer we spend some time visiting with them and some of my siblings who live nearby.
I graduated from college with a major in Accounting, and after a few years working for a big accounting firm, returned to law school. Since then, I’ve worked in college administration and teach a course, too. I really enjoy my job. It has been very rewarding to have played a role in the education of so many young people. I have a generous benefits and vacation package, and even though my job has its busy times, I have a great deal of flexibility and ability to take time off to be with family.
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We are so blessed to have found one another, and our friendship and love is strong. Every day, we give thanks for the arrival of little Will, and we look forward to welcoming his brother or sister into our hearts and home. We are both extremely blessed with wonderful and loving parents and siblings and want to pass on that love, support, and strong morals to our children. We both greatly value our family, our friends, our faith and our education.
Try as we might, we cannot begin to imagine how difficult taking this path might be for you. We can only hope that this letter provides some little bit of encouragement as you travel this way. We hope that reading this has given you some sense of what we are like, and we hope that it will result in a life-long answer to prayer for all of us.
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If you should choose us to love, nurture and care for your child, we would be thrilled to send you pictures and letters several times a year, if you wish, so that you may see that the baby is thriving and very much loved and that you have made the right decision to trust us with your child. You will know what his/her first words are, favorite and least favorite foods, how his/her first day at school went and how he/she is growing. This would be a small way for us to thank you for giving us the greatest gift possible.
If you would like to know more about us, talk with us by telephone, or meet us in person, please let our attorneys, Steve and Joel Kirsh, know. You can reach them any time at 800-333-5736.
You are in our thoughts and prayers… and have been for some time!
