Anyhow, this morning before I started my mission of baking peanut butter brownies, I was watching a little tv and eating breakfast. Anthony was getting ready to go play a round of golf...he might be a little crazy since it's cold and windy out! I can't remember what I was watching (or if I was even really watching, I was also trying to finish up a crochet project) but a commercial came on for the "HurryCane". It's an all-terrain cane that can also stand up by itself. Anthony by this time was in the kitchen and he heard the commercial and said "we should have gotten that for you mom for Christmas!" He was completely kidding of course. However, it did get me thinking...
Many of you may or may not know that I was adopted (that should be a whole other blog post), but to make a long story short I have a huge family because I keep in touch with both of my biological parents. A lot of people find this very interesting but to me it's just normal. It's always fun to answer the question "do you have any siblings?" Well...yes I do...lots: I have 3 older brothers and then I have 5 biological half brothers and 3 biological half sisters, but I basically grew up as an only child. So, how does that work? I have 3 older brothers, but they could technically be my dads! The youngest one is almost the same age as Anthony's parents I believe.
It can be quite a confusing to try and explain my whole adoption story. The easy short way is: it was a private open adoption. The long confusing way if you're up for it is: My mom's (and when I say mom I'm talking about my adopted mom, because she IS my mom) brother married my biological mom's aunt. Of course my mom and biological mom didn't know each other tho. Anyhow, my parents had just married off the last of my 3 brothers and had attempted to adopt a sibling group, but that fell through. Shortly after that my mom's brother contacted my parents and asked if they would be interested in adopting a baby. That baby just so happened to be me. So...had I NOT been adopted I would still be related to my mom's brother by marriage (he would be my great uncle), and I probably wouldn't even know my parents. But, since I WAS adopted, he is my uncle. Confused yet?? That's alright...it doesn't really matter anyway, we're just one big happy family!!
Okay, back to my point. My parents were grandparents when they decided to adopt me. I mean, dad was about to turn 50 and mom was 47/48 when they brought me home! To most of you that probably sounds absolutely crazy!! Many times throughout my life (mostly just through school) I had people ask if those were my grandparents, haha! It never really bothered me tho. The only thing I still give them a hard time about is that they were always party poopers when it came to New Years Eve! Other than that..my childhood on up was the same as any other kid. Mom was able to stay home with me and then eventually worked part time while I was in school. Dad still worked and coached me for many years in softball...he was even my catcher when it came to pitching lessons...poor guy I think he still has a bruise on his leg from all those drop ball pitches...sorry about that dad!
So what am I ranting about? Over the past couple of months I've either had or heard a few different conversations where people have said things like "there's no way I'd have another kid at this age" or "I'm through with mine, it's my time to enjoy now". Now I'm not saying going out and adopting a baby at the age of 50 is what everyone is suppose to do. But, it just irritates me that some people think they've earned the right to their "own" time once they hit a certain age. To so quickly dismiss the idea if a child was to end up on their doorstep is just sad to me. They have no idea what they could be missing out on. I count it an absolute priviledge to have had "older" parents. I grew up listening to the oldies on the radio with my dad, I definitely know a few "older" sayings, and I think I learned to hold a higher respect for the older generation (where some kids today have absolutely none). Not only do I think I benefited from having older parents, but I believe my parents benefited as well. If you were to run into my parents today I guarantee you would not guess their age correctly, or that they have 7 great grandchildren and almost 9 grandchildren. They have been very blessed with great health and have aged fantastic. I fully believe when you let yourself "get old" then you most certainly will. Something happens to a person when they stop being active. I'm sure I certainly kept my parents on their toes for many years! Not tooting my own horn, because I think the benefits were mutual. Now, look at these pictures and tell me if you'd ever guess mom is 72 and dad is 74!! Sorry mom, don't kill me for posting your age, but you look GREAT so you shouldn't be ashamed!
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| This picture was taken in April '12 |
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| This one is a few years old, but trust me, he hasn't changed! |
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| This is probably the most recent one of both of them |
The Bible tells us that children are a blessing (Pslam 127:3-5). It should not matter what age you are. There is no age limit for a person to stop having or adopting children (granted I'm not saying someone should adopted a baby at the age of 80, let's have some common sense). And, please don't tell me you want to have all of your children at a young age so you will be able to enjoy them and your grandchildren and not be "too old"....
And now, I will step off of my soapbox! All of that from a silly cane commercial...I better go check to see how my brownies turned out!!
Lacy I love this post. I never knew any of this about you (not that it matters) but it puts everything into perspective. As someone who has always wanted children more than anything, I always worried about the right time and making everything perfect beforehand. It was only when I realized it wasn't my choice and that God will choose when the time is right that I "accidentally" got pregnant. It was never up to me in the first place, I just never realized it!
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