Alex

Ready to have your heart ripped out? This Saturday, my mom and dad will be saying goodbye to their little foster son, Alex. Alex's mother was battling drugs and alcohol, and he was was immediately placed into foster care after birth. My parents actually brought him home from the hospital as a newborn!

Social Services has been working with his birth mother , and she's been having monitored visits with Alex. The ultimate goal is to reunite the children with their parents, after they've been through parenting classes and counseling. However, the courts decided that the mother should not regain custody of little Alex, and he should instead be adopted permanently.

Alex's mother asked my mom and dad to adopt him, and they desperately wanted to, but at their age (66 and 65) they decided that it was not in his best interest.

My parents are really excited about his new family. The mother is an RN, and she will be taking a full year of maternity leave to transition Alex. The father owns his own landscaping company. They are both bilingual parents in English and French, and they have 2 adopted girls from China (they are ADORABLE!) so it will be great for Alex to have 2 big sisters!

Here's a photo of my mom with Alex, and my 3 nieces: London, Navy, and Freja. Below, is a picture of my Dad with Alex this summer.

As you can imagine, the situation is full of mixed emotion: my parents are grateful for Alex's new family and joyous that he will be adopted, but it is agonizing to let him go, and I'm sure the transition will be a bit frightening for him as well. Alex is 18 months old, so it's a blessing for his new parents that he will not remember the adoption, and he will always know them as his parents. But at the same time, it's terribly painful for my parents to have to see him go. They truly love him, and have raised him as their own, giving him a wonderful home and lots of love.

It's a tearful week for my mom and dad, knowing that each day is getting closer to the day that they will have to say goodbye to their little boy. So, please remember my mom and dad in your thoughts and prayers. It takes a lot of strength!