Considering Recent Events: Chardon, Ohio

My heart goes out to the children, friends, parents, teachers and community of Chardon. These kind of tragedies are at times overwhelming and unthinkable, especially when these kind of things occur right in your home state. When Columbine occurred there were other school shootings and we all just sort of looked at it like a random act of violence. However, Columbine was an event that changed everything in the US school system. Columbine really took the innocents of school away from a generation and set the tone for the future.

Like generations before them, my generation remembers Columbine, you remember how old you were, what you were doing when it happened and the worry, "What if something like that happened here." For kids in my home town, we could really relate to Columbine. It is a middle class to upper middle class community. The High School I went to was completely segregated by social groups and you just went with whatever group you had been accepted too, I was fortunate enough to be apart of a group that didn't really get picked on very much; but I've seen the kind of torment kids can put upon each other and your mind does not have to stretch to see the cause and affect.

When I was a Junior in college the Virginia Tech Massacre occurred. We had all thought this was something we did not have to worry about any more, we thought college was safe from these types of tragedies. As the weeks passed following VT, security at my university and others tightened. The presence of officers made you feel safer, but it also reminded you of what could happen and for a few weeks every time a door would slam or someone would drop something loud in the hallway we would all jump.

Like anything horrible in life there are lessons to be learned. Chardon is a great example of that. From the events of Columbine, Ohio High Schools have really embraced a resolution to be prepared. We practice "Lockdown" just like fire or tornado drills.



We tell our students what to do and we hope they remember. Chardon High School should be commended for its quick response to protect the school and the dedication of its teachers to protect their children.

We have seen it time and time again in these School Shootings, the bravery and heroic acts of teachers stepping forward and protecting their students. Teachers barricading doors to keep the shooter out with nothing more than their body, teachers going in to help the wounded, teachers throwing themselves in front of the student to shield them from harm. What would we do without our teachers? Where would our children be without these wonderful heroes?

Carry On

Well it has certainly been awhile since I last posted anything on here. February has been a rather slow month for our adoption.We've submitted a few profiles here and there, with quite a few birth mothers, but it just wasn't our turn yet. It seems as though I have been rather busy lately. I've been spending the majority of my time writing and the rest of my time baby sitting my little buddy and take care of Katey and Keith, and our house....i.e. cleaning.

 

Busy is probably the best thing to do when your waiting though. A friend asked the other day why I haven't been posting here lately and my reply was, "Well you can only write about waiting so many times." It is true. If I wrote everyday this month it would have been about the waiting process, which I have filled numerous posts with already. Please don't think that I am sitting in a dark room just waiting for that phone to ring. I can honestly say that I've never done that, though I do think about our baby, where they are, who their birth parents are, what unknown path lays before us, and about a thousand questions every single day; but I still know better than anything that I do have to "Carry On."

I decided that just meandering through my day wasn't quite cutting it. So I decided to make myself a schedule and stick to it. I have certain days I clean, certain days I sleep in, others I simply read and work on my art endevours, and shopping days with my Mom. But what has really helped, as a "work from home" person, is having a daily schedule. Keith gets up and leaves for work at around 8, so I get up at 8 and see him off on most days. Then I have breakfast, check emails, and facebook for a half hour. Then I write for two to three hours. This little tid-bit of time has really been quite helpful on staying focused on writing and my novel is coming along nicely. When I start hitting that brick wall in writing I get ready for the day. I have lunch, play with Katey, clean the kitchen, clean the rest of the house on some days and others I do laundry. I find "working" (i.e. writing for me) is best done right after my glass of OJ (I'm simply not a coffee person and tea takes to long to cool sometimes...tea is definitely for the afternoon.).

Though our journey seems as if it is never ending, we have never hit a road block we couldn't move past. We have come to the conclusion that there is only the road before us and we can only find our way if we "Carry On" and deal with whatever obstacles come our way. My way is moving forward each day, making each moment count, though at times it does seem as if we are not moving forward at all, in hindsight I can see how far we have gone and I am very proud of how we have got this far. Anyhow, sometimes it is not about the roads you travel that are important, it is important that you make it to the finish. Or at the very least to the next stepping stone.

Reflections

Recently I have been doing a lot of thinking about this journey Keith and I are on. The difficulties that our future holds seem, at times, scary. I suppose many "Mothers-to-be" feel this anxiety from time to time, for me it just seems too much; but then we remember why we began this journey. This week I began babysitting a 7 week old little boy for two of our best friends. I have to say that honestly, this is fun for me, challenging and sometimes perplexing yet fun.

To me babies are very interesting. Something I learned about babies a long time ago, when my Parents let us help them volunteer in the nursery at Church, is that infants have three purposes to their present life. That is to Relieve themselves, sleep, and eat. Nothing else and nothing more. So logically if the baby is screaming you would think that it is one of these three things, right? Not exactly. Babies cry for many reasons and just like we express what is wrong with us in different ways, babies have different cries for different things. There is a cry for a new diaper, one for food, one for company, one because they are bored, one because they dropped their binky and one they use just to cry it seems.

For me I am very lucky, because though when we bring our baby home I'll be home all day by myself while Keith goes off to work. I have an amazing support system. My parents live close by and somehow my Mom just knows every little perfect technique for whatever baby problem I have had. She asks what they are doing and somehow knows exactly what is wrong. She amazes me! Then there are my "Mommy" friends that know what it is to be a "new mother." But most importantly, to me, there is Keith. He is more than a husband, he's my best friend and partner in this journey. Keith worked at a baby store for many years before getting his Database Job, he knows why we might or might not want certain products, he knows just how to assemble all the complicated little things, like Cribs, strollers, pack-n-plays, etc. But more than anything he's always there for me and I can't wait to see him be a Father.

The past few months have really been an education though for the both of us. We have been steadily preparing in every way we can for our little bundle of joy. The nursery is done, the car seat is ready, the diaper bag is filled with diapers, wipes, newly washed clothes, blankets, burp cloths, lotion, shampoo, nail files, thermometer, a nasal aspirator,  socks, mittens, those cute little hats, and more. We are all ready :-).

Now all we need is a baby, we are trying to be a patient as we can and trusting God to bring him/her when they are ready. I am really looking forward to sharing our experiences, good and bad, on this blog. I would really love to hear others adoption stories to feature on this blog as well. If you have a story and would like to submit it to post on this blog, please email your story to: KeithandAmyAdopt@gmail.com