Mark with Marina, April 2011

Dear Sean & Leigh Anne,

I think it was April, 2011 when I wrote to you about my son David’s desire to adopt a 16 year old visually impaired girl.  To our great delight and gratitude you responded with words of encouragement and support.  I now want to tell you our story.

It was exactly 12 months ago when I told my family that all I wanted for my birthday was for everyone to watch “The Blindside”.  I had already hosted three “Blindside DVD Nights” where I had all my friends watch the movie.  I am a counsellor and  wanted everyone to know what happens when good people do the right thin.

A short time after the movie, David, who works with visually impaired students in the Columbus Public School System, told me that he wanted to adopt one of his students.  I’m sure it was your story that showed David that adoption of an older child is possible.  My husband, Mark and I love the idea but did not give it a lot of consideration, as we thought it would be impossible for a single, white male to adopt; let along adopt one of his students.  We were wrong.

After writing to you, Mark and I returned to our home in Australia, where we now live six months a year.  We moved to Australia (my home) twenty years ago.

In August, 2011 David officially adopted our beautiful granddaughter Marina.  Marina’s mother had passed away when she was ten.  Marina and her brother lived in many foster homes both while their mother was alive and after death.

In October 2011 Mark and I returned to Columbus.

I was afraid that this letter would be too long, as I wanted to say so much, but I am now at the point where I am starting to cry, so all I want to do is express to you how very grateful I am for what you have done for us and now doubt so many others.  We all love Marina so much, and if you had not made Michael part of your family then I don’t think Marina would be part of our lives today.  My son has given Marina a future, but that pales in light of what Marina has and is doing for us.  I hate to think about how empty our lives would be without her.

When we have felt lost in the process of getting to know Marina, the movie and the books, both yours and Michael’s have been vital in our understanding of Marina and have given us home when we didn’t know what to do.  I would imagine that if Michael and Marina should ever happen to meet they would have many great things to talk about.

I would and do strongly recommend adoption of older children, the process is fairly easy and rewards are immense.

Gratefully yours,

Virginia

P.S. Go Ravens.  For the first time in my life I am watching gridiron football.

February is the month that we correlate with love. You know as the song says, “a crazy little thing called love.” Do our head and heart work together and come up with a plan? Do they see a certain person and the head tells the heart this the first crush or this is the one who will be the lasting and deep attachment?

Have you ever wondered why we fall in love with the one person and not another? We all have been on life’s roller coaster of phases of love. You know they range from the first love-puppy love to that everlasting love and even the love of your life. I think your head analyzes the situation and surroundings and then your heart puts it all into perspective.

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How many times have I said, “Life’s not fair”??? We’ve discussed how inches really make a difference. I’ve talked about how you can either be in the game or on the sidelines. Sunday during the Super Bowl, each and every one of those analogies rang true, even up to the very last play of the game. Tom Brady chunked a Hail Mary pass and it could have gone either way. It was just as great a possibility for that ball to have been caught as it was intercepted. For 4 seconds, millions of people gasped as they waited to see the outcome of that pass.

For the Giants, it was a moment of celebration. Yet, as the camera showed the box where the Patriots’ owner and fans were sitting, it was apparent they were doing just the opposite. You could see the pain and frustration written all over their faces. One’s life somewhat mirrors the Super Bowl. Your life is the biggest game you will ever play!  Sometimes the calls are in your favor and sometimes they  are not.

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Let me start by telling you this is not what I had intended to write about this week, but after several twist and turns on Tuohy Turnpike 101, I did a Dukes of Hazard slide and changed directions.

First, I never imagined so many of you would enjoy my blog post on the time spent in the ladies’ room last Sunday. I’m so glad some of you enjoyed the experience, even if you were living vicariously through me. Secondly, you are not aware of this’ but AARP has this little button in AARP land and the button has a label that reads, “Leigh Anne’s Sensor button” and each week when I turn in my blog, they have to use that little button numerous times – sad but true. Last week they pushed that little button many, many times just so my blog received a rating acceptable for our readers! My husband is in current negotiations with them to try and secure the future rights to that button. He might have to trade Collins and a future first round draft choice, but he thinks it would be worth his future peace of mind.

Ok, so back to the ladies’ room for just a quick button up.  There was definitely one thing that I took away from that experience as I reflected back over that day. That take away was how level the playing field becomes in a setting like the ladies’ room at a football stadium. Suddenly, it didn’t matter what your socioeconomic status was, your color, faith, type of car you drove to the game, where your seats were located, etc….everyone in that space had common goals. We were all equal.

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Let me ask you a serious question. How many of you have ever spent any quality time in the ladies’ restroom at an NFL stadium, excluding “most” males? It’s really much more pleasant than you might think. However, my experience outside this secure place was much different. In fact, Roger Goodell should insist that the NFL offer life skill classes to teach folks to interact properly with other fans. The League is multicultural and contemporary, but I spent the entire day Sunday with many fans who missed that memo. I haven’t decided if the majority of NFL fans didn’t have a collegiate football experience or they just haven’t had enough social interaction with people with different opinions - because normal behavior was nowhere to be found in the stadium that day.

My game day experience started badly and ended badly and the middle unfortunately was not any better. So here we go. Eagerly arriving in my bedazzled Ravens jersey and wanting not to miss a minute of the excitement, we arrived to the stadium early. Upon entrance I was called names that I was unfamiliar with but realized were not loving or endearing names. I really didn’t even know some of those words could be used together!

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