This morning, Olivia and I participated in a Walk for Life for the Alpha Center in Sioux City. I hope to get a couple of pictures from it to post here (I still need to try out the new services available). It was a gorgeous day, and Olivia and I both enjoyed our two-mile walk down by the river, and the chance to see old friends and support a great cause.
The theme for the walk was “Love Never Fails.” What a wonderful theme for today’s walk, and I couldn’t agree more! That’s what my life has truly been about—love and the power that unconditional love truly has. God loved me and that’s how I survived that abortion attempt. The nurses and doctors at the hospitals where I was treated after the abortion attempt loved me enough to provide me the life saving care I needed, nurture and nurse me back to health, and even name me so that I wasn’t just some nameless child. My adoptive parents loved me despite the poor prognosis I was given for health and life.
I think many people are stunned to learn that I was able to come home to my adoptive parents two months after my survival of the abortion attempt. But that’s the power of love-the love of God, the doctors and nurses and my adoptive parents—they sustained me and healed me from the sickness I suffered as a premature infant. Likewise, I think that many people are surprised when they meet me and they discover that I am a normal, happy, healthy, successful adult. I have suffered no physical, emotional, or mental disabilities, I have a Master’s degree, and from what people tell me, I am a talented writer and speaker. That’s the power of love there, too. My adoptive parents and their families, my friends, my community and school growing up, my employers, my church, all of those people have loved me at my best of times and worst of times, and supported me through my long search of finding my biological family and learning about myself.
I can’t help but think about my Olivia when I think about the power of love, of course. I always thought that I knew what love was, but I didn’t fully understand the depths of that love until I had her. The love that a mother has for her child is the deepest, most soulful love that must be out there in the world. Every time I look at her, no matter what she is doing (naughty or not), it just hits me deep within my soul about how much I love her. I love her for who she is and what she will become, and it’s my love for her that motivates me to continue to share my story with the world, to hopefully make it a better place for her. I may not be the perfect mother, but I know that no matter what mistakes I make with raising Olivia, all will be well, because my love for her will make up for it.
Love never fails, and I am living proof of this. Thank you to all of those people who have touched my life in one way or another and loved me!
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