Big News :-)

I was thrilled to see this morning that I have been given a blogging award by "Looney Tunes" or LT. I have linked to her before and while I don't know her personally and we have never spoken, I have a great deal of respect for her. Her blog stirs up tons of emotions but I need to read it. I need her to keep me real, to keep me careful about how I talk about my kids, and to keep my passion fueled to continue to work tirelessly to find homes for kids before they age out of foster care and find themselves in her situation.

Many times I have wished that I could offer her my family as hers. However, I have recently come to an interesting conclusion. At this time we should not adopt again. In the fall, when we inquired on the 16 year old and were not chosen, I forced myself to take a close look at myself and our family and to realize that we are probably not a good therapeutic place for healing at this time. Tony and Dominyk are so volatile and Rand and Jimmy both still engaged in creating and maintaining loud conflict with them, that this no place for anyone who has anxiety issues, PTSD, attachment disorder, or any of the other diagnosis that kids in care have. The drama of our older kids and their kids sucks up our emotional energy to the point we don't have much more to give. I hate to get to this point, but we're here, and it's just the way it is.

But back to LT. She is an amazingly articulate writer. Her blog is well done, always complete with pictures that graphically (or sometimes humorously) illustrate her points. She is beyond intelligent and insightful and I'm sure she doesn't realize the extent of her contribution to the world of foster care and adoption... but in my opinion it's invaluable.

I am beyond honored that she feels my blog is worthy of an award. I may or may not have time to pass the award on to others, but I am highly affirmed that someone who has been there has read through what Bart calls my "barf on a page" and personally finds it to be worth recommending to others.

Thanks, LT. Your bravery astounds me. Even though I never join the hosts of those who comment on your blog, I read every entry. Thanks for keeping me real.