Tragedy in Minnesota

Recently in the City Pages, the cover story was about Ty Mooney (my stepbrother, whom I have never met) and his wife Stacy. If you have time, you should read it in full. In case you don't have time, I will summarize.

Ty and Stacy recently adopted a little girl. It was a private adoption, and to make sure everything went smoothly, they hired a lawyer. They went along on the prenatal visits with the biological mother, they were at the hospital when the baby was born, and Stacy even was the one to cut the umbilical cord. When the baby was a month and a half old, Stacy got a phone call from her lawyer that in a half hour, she needed to meet the biological mother in the park to return the baby. If she refused, she was told she would be arrested for kidnapping. The baby was then adopted out to another family. Stacy and Ty are suing their lawyer for adoption malpractice, since he clearly did not know or bother to research adoption laws.

I hope this story is widely read and gets much publicity so that other families don't go through such a horrific ordeal. Lawyers are supposed to be experts you can trust, and these two believed in theirs. They believed he was leading them down the right path, that he was doing all he could to help protect their growing family, and that he was trustworthy and honest.

I can only imagine what Ty and Stacy felt during this ordeal. Parents deal with loss all the time; I deal with loss all the time: the loss of a pregnant belly, the loss of a chance to deliver a baby naturally, the loss of a gummy smile, the loss of a former social life. In unfortunate situations, parents must deal with the actual loss of a child. In this case, the parents have to deal not only with the loss of a child, but with the knowledge that the baby is out there, adopted into another family, being raised by other parents.

When this happened, my mom was really upset. She was the Grama, and she loved the baby. Suddenly, the baby was gone. When she told me about it, I thought the whole thing seemed fishy. How could that really have happened? When I read all the details about it in the City Pages, I was furious and terrified.

I have never gone through the adoption process, but the one thing I have gathered from people I know who have is that adopted children are as much a part of parents as biological children are. If I adopted a baby, in theory I would consider him/her to be as big a part of my life as Fox is (though I can hardly imagine loving anyone as much as Fox:)).

What must that have been like? What would I have done in that position? It is easy for me to say that if it were me, I would have done something differently, but the truth is nobody knows how he or she would react to that situation. So, I have made a plan. If someone, for whatever reason, were to try and take Fox from me, I know exactly what I would do and where I would go. None of you would be able to find me (except PV, because I told him my plan. But then I made a backup plan in case I need to hide from him). For obvious reasons, I cannot tell more details about my super awesome escape plan. Some of you may be reading this, thinking I have wound you into my little plan somehow. I assure you--none of you will be getting a call for help from me. You are all too obvious. My plan is complex, my contact people obscure, and my route untraceable. I hope I never have to use it, and I sincerely doubt I ever would (what grounds would someone have to take Fox?), but the plan is there.

Life is Fine, Fine as Wine, Life is Fine

I am a happy person. It is Tuesday of Spring Break. Life couldn't be better.

Each week, I am able to fit into more and more of my cute skinny clothes. I am almost into my favorite jeans (I think by Saturday I will be able to feel confident wearing them in public). In 6 weeks, I am down just over 13 pounds. Go me!

I got some cute shoes a couple weeks ago that seem to go with everything I own. Rock on!

We got an awesome new stroller today (on sale!!!) that is cute, gender neutral, and smooth gliding. It has a huge basket (great for shopping), and the handle is nice and high for Joe to use. Yay!

I have been searching for a new purse for almost 6 months. I found one at MOA on clearance for 5.99 that is SO cute I could die (but I won't). It is the perfect size to fit all I need. It even has a pocket insode (with a zipper!) that is big enough for a diaper and a 10-pack of wipes. There are two external holders--one for a phone, and one for lotion--and three internal holders for other items of import. It fits nicely on the shoulder, and the straps are cloth, so they stay put and don't slide down. And best of all, it has no leather at all! What a great purse. I would have paid 30$ for it (that is a lot for me, in case you don't know), but it was only 5.99. If there was a purse competition this summer (which I am aware there is not), I would totally win. Awesome!

I set up my U of M email today so I can keep in touch with everyone as we are preparing to teach our new public speaking class. In order get it going, I had to call a tech person for my password, and I got to say, "I am a new faculty member, and I need to set up my email account." I sound so grown up! Sweet!

Because I am a teacher, I got a free membership at Underwater World. Shark, lobsters, fishies, and turtles, here I come! Yay!

These are just some of the fantastic happenings in my life of late. Who knows what the future holds? Maybe a winning lottery ticket? hhhhhmmm...