November 16, 2023
by Maralee
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November is Adoption Awareness Month and this year the word “awareness” is really sticking out to me. There have been seasons where I thought of it as “Adoption Positivity Month” and then years later it felt like “Adoption Shame and … Continue reading
November 2, 2022
by Maralee
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I had an experience this last week that’s left me a little unsettled. I don’t like being unsettled. I took my daughter in for an appointment with a pediatric dentist. We typically all see the same dentist, but she had … Continue reading
August 25, 2022
by Maralee
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This is an edit of something I originally wrote back in 2013 after an interaction with my mom’s cousin, Warren. I wanted to share it again (with some tweaks) because I heard from my mom last night that Warren passed … Continue reading
August 16, 2022
by Maralee
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Dear Tavia, The day we’ve waited for is here and I can’t wait to get you all dressed up in your yellow lace dress and take you to court so we can make it official. I spent hours and hours … Continue reading
June 9, 2022
by Maralee
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For many years I have been telling nervous potential foster parents that if God is asking you to become a foster family, he is also asking your kids. I have encouraged parents to talk to their children, include them in … Continue reading
June 1, 2022
by Maralee
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A letter arrived in the mail today. It was unexpected. It had a return address I’ve seen many times before and when it’s expected, it just feels like a piece of information for me to take in. A court date. … Continue reading
April 27, 2022
by Maralee
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The question caught me off-guard, although I’m not sure why. We’ve done a lot of adoption homestudies over the years. We’ve had to answer deeply personal and invasive questions. The topic of our infertility diagnosis has been addressed and readdressed … Continue reading
April 14, 2022
by Maralee
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I read this summary of a podcast interview with Thomas Rhett about the adoption of his daughter and I’m not okay with it. I don’t want to pretend that this interview was a full description of how he’s handling adoption … Continue reading
March 29, 2022
by Maralee
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I should definitely be cleaning right now. In less than two hours a woman will be coming to judge my home (very literally) and I’m sure I should go take the clean laundry out of the dryer and get it … Continue reading
February 15, 2022
by Maralee
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Dear Ms. Campbell, While the two of us couldn’t seem to have more vastly different lives (you’re a famous model and mom of one, I’m a mom of 8 who just finished eating a Valentine Ding Dong treat she pilfered … Continue reading