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Taxi to the Strip |
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The preceding all took place in August, 2000. In January 2001, I made a simple decision. I would persevere at this no matter what, no matter who, no matter how. I would be successful in this regardless of any obstacle in my path. I envisioned my child with his weary head upon his pillow, wondering if anyone would come to get him and make him a part of a family. In other words, I informed the tower that I was ready for takeoff!
I set about finding an agency here in Maryland to do the home study. Several agencies were recommended to me by people I'd met on the internet and who'd completed adoptions. I had talked with each and selected The Board of Child Care and Anne Pearce to do the study. I felt very comfortable with her and sensed that she was open and supportive of a single man adopting.
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The first meeting was at my home where Anne got a feeling for the place where the child would be living. In Maryland, and I'm sure most in states, the responsibility for safeguarding the child falls upon the social worker doing the home study. The first consideration, obviously, is the home environment. After a tour, we talked about the long road ahead and she gave me a batch of re-printed articles to read. That sparked several further forays into research about older children and adoption and I get to that later.
Anne and I talked a great deal about the general characteristics of the child I would like to have. We talked about the idea of two children, too. She didn't seem keen to the idea until I pointed out that, with two, they can keep each other company and help each other during the transition. I had a chance to see this in action with my friend Patti and more about that later, too. |
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Links |
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Back |
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Home |
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Forced to leave Marin behind, I'm ready to forge ahead on this adventure... |
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Next |
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