To My Mother
May 10th 2008
Claudia DainMy Life As A Plebe
There’s this idea going around that children who’ve been adopted are missing something. Missing a true identity? Missing vital details of medical histories? Missing a sense of heritage or family or belonging?
I don’t know exactly, so don’t ask me. I’m adopted and I feel fine.
I know that my birth mother made a courageous choice, a loving choice, and that I’ve never stopped being thankful to her.
I look at my medical history not as a blank slate, but a clean slate. As far as I know, nobody ever died of anything. I’m going to live forever.
I know that my parents loved me without reservation and without hesitation, overjoyed by the Gift of Me.
I know that all my relatives accepted me as one of them, the final proof being that I got Important Stuff when they kicked the bucket.
I am the granddaughter of Swedish immigrants, because they told me so and sang me Swedish nonsense songs.
I am the daughter of an ex-Marine who delighted in my ‘take-no-prisoners’ personality.
I am the daughter of a woman who married a paraplegic and who made our home a place of laughter and music.
I was loved with an overwhelming, never ending love. I was my mother’s best friend. My father lit up like a search light whenever I walked into the room.
My parents are dead and I miss them every day. And when anyone asks me why, now, when the possibility of hurting my parents is gone, as they’re gone, why I don’t try to find my real mother, I have only one thing to say:
I knew my real mother. She died ten years ago. The mother I had was the only one I’ll ever need, and the only mother I’ll ever want.
And you know what? That’s exactly what my birth mother wanted for me. She wanted me to be loved, to be a part of a family, forever. And I was. And I am.
Thanks, Mom.
What did your parents love about you? What is it that makes family feel like family?
45 Comments »
Sabrina Jeffries on 10 May 2008 at 5:19 am #
What a beautiful tribute to your family, Claudia!
I think families are just as often made as born. What keeps them together is that bond of unconditional love–knowing that no matter what you do, your family is going to love you. They may not approve of you and they may not even enjoy being with you all the time, but they love you.
Maybe that’s why I enjoy While I Lay Sleeping so much–when Jerry says, “Lucy, you are born into a family. You do not join them like you do the marines,” we laugh, but we really do want her to find a family in the wonderful Callaghans. And when they essentially ALL propose to her at the end, we realize that she has.
I love that movie. One of my favorite movies to watch at Christmas. Hey, now I have a hankering to watch it!
Margaret Garland on 10 May 2008 at 6:04 am #
I love that movie too, Sabrina. Sandra is so poignant in the part. I like her in just about anything.
When I was young, I wanted to have 8 children. Probably the result of being an only child. I had 2. Then divorced and was single for 13 years. 2nd DH had 5 children. My mother often said I almost got the 8 even tho I had to marry them. I think we would have adopted if we had been a bit younger. As it turned out, it was best that we didn’t when my DH had a severly disabling stroke. But I sure love the ones I was given. Blood or steps. Doesn’t matter. They are mine.
Margaret Garland on 10 May 2008 at 6:08 am #
My mother wasn’t supposed to have children. The Dr. didn’t think she could get pregnant or live thru a pregnancy. She did manage both one time and I was that result. So, I am grateful for that. I love family and always wonder at those who think they can go it alone in life.
Not everyone is able to have biological children. Which is a good thing for those precious little ones who were born to a biological parent who couldn’t keep them for one reason or another. I imagine it takes a lot of courage to give up a child. And to take on the raising of one you didn’t give birth to.
Happy Mother’s Day to you all.
evlqn on 10 May 2008 at 6:56 am #
Having had the benefit of both bios and steps I always felt lucky. In one I was the oldest and got to boss my little brother and in one I was the baby and got everything! My mother lost custody of us when we were small but because my brother and I were not in the house when child services arrived we never went into the system. I stayed with the family I was with for 6 years while my brother stayed with one of my uncles. The three older sisblings were adopted to another family and we lost contact with them for nearly 9 years. My older brother came back when he was in the Navy and then my oldest sister and best friend came back. Our mother recently established contact with our other sister and I am glad for her but I have no interest in her for myself. I got to remain in the lives of the family that I had lived with for 6 years, I spent holidays and vacations with them and with my mom and her second husband and my brother.
Aly on 10 May 2008 at 6:57 am #
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!
I am actually the only biological child in a family of 4 girls! I am the youngest and a medical “Um how the heck did that happen?” People used to ask my mother which one of us was the “real” one. She would pinch the one closest to her and when we screamed in pain she would say “That one is real. should we try the next one?” LOL!
My sisters feel the exact same was as you when people ask how they have felt about meeting/learning about their “real” mothers. And they respond much like the way you did above!
We do often joke in my family that although I am the biological one, they are the special ones! Mom and Dad had a choice to have them but they got stuck with me
We have a very good natured family!
Happy Mother’s Day to all!
evlqn on 10 May 2008 at 7:16 am #
My stepdad was a good man and we always knew we were loved by him and his family. My grandpa on daddy’s side had come from Germany with his mother when he was 9. He brought a Stradivarius violin with him and he could make the most incredible music with it. Grandma always made fried chicken and gravy on Sunday and served fresh cherry and peach pies.
My foster family had and has cabins on Red Feather Mountain in Colorado and we went there several times a year. I know my two moms didn’t like each other very much but they never let it interfer with my happiness. Dads 2&3 thought I hung the moon, dad # 1 would have been a waste of ammunition.
In our families we have so many bios,steps and fosters that we just claim them all to avoid confusion. I have 72 first cousins (all bio) on my moms side. She is the oldest of 10 kids , all but one were breeders. Our family reunions were so big that when they closed the school in our grandparents town grandpa bought it.
Sabrina Jeffries on 10 May 2008 at 7:55 am #
Aly, I love your mom’s response to “which one is real”! Cracked me up.
That’s about the same way I feel when someone says, “When are you going to write a real book?” That’s when I steal KarenH’s fabulous response for that: “When they stop paying me real money for the fake books I’m writing now!”
doglady on 10 May 2008 at 8:18 am #
Claudia, what a great tribute to your family. My mother’s sister adopted two children as infants and as far as we are concerned they are just like the rest of us - stuck with this crazy family! Randy decided to discover his birth parents years ago and regretted it. Angie never did. She said “These are my parents. They have given me everything. What more do I need?” The funny thing is Angie is JUST LIKE my Aunt Dale and Randy is JUST LIKE my Uncle Seale. As my aunt and uncle are both gone now Randy and Angie are a great comfort and reminder to us.
My brother married a lady with a ten year old son two years ago. Aaron’s real father is no prize, trust me. He adores my brother and considers him his Dad. But the person he loves most in our family is my Mom. Aaron has pronounced Nana the best grandmother in the entire world. From the start she has treated him just like she treats my other brother’s children. Which includes buying him an obscene number of gifts at Christmas and birthdays.
Kathy/Cookiedough on 10 May 2008 at 8:19 am #
As a birth mom, you know I’m weighing on THIS topic!
I just heard from one of my twins this morning through email.He is very excited about an archaeological dig he is going on in Rome this summer.
He and his brother turned 21 this past week and they have a wonderful family on their parents’ side and my side. They talk to almost every one of my neices and nephews, their cousins.
They grew up with great parents. They tried a for a very long time to have children and were disappointed time and again on adoptions that fell through. It was fate that brought them to my sister’s table at a conference. They told her of their story and she told them about me. I had made the decision to give them up for adoption only a few days before. I knew I was too immature to raise them, would be in a welfare situation for a long time and did not want that life for them.
It was such an open adoption that they kept the names I gave the boys.
con’t
doglady on 10 May 2008 at 8:24 am #
More than that she gives him her time and attention. She calls all three of her grandchildren every day after school to ask how their day went. They will tell her things they won’t tell their parents. She has attended Aaron’s Grandparents’ Day activities at school which is something he never had. She goes to his athletic events and cheers like a maniac. All three grandkids have movie dates with Nana in the summer and during holidays. They go every year to the local peach orchards and strawberry farms to pick fruit and then they get to come home and help Nana make preserves. Since my Dad is gone Mom fully intends that all three grandkids have a grandparent in their lives and that they get to know who my Dad was, especially Aaron as he never got to meet my Dad.
My BFF had the most horrific childhood ever with two abusive parents that should have been shot. She has adopted my Mom and I know it has made a difference in her life.
Here’s to all the MOMs - in every form and guise!
Kathy/Cookiedough on 10 May 2008 at 8:27 am #
I wrote to them from the hospital about feeding preferences and when it came time for them to travel down and take them, I handed Michael to his dad, and Christopher to his mom and walked out of my sister’s house.
I broke down in the car and stayed with another sister to mourn.
I was sent baby pictures and when the boys started school his mom sent me art that they had done, as well as their report cards.
They always told them about me, their birth mom
When they turned 13, we started emailing each other. They’ve sent me so many pictures through the years!
con’t
Nicole Jordan on 10 May 2008 at 8:28 am #
Oh my, that is so beautiful, Claudia. I’ll be back to say something later, once I get the tears out of my eyes and the smile off my face.
Karen Hawkins on 10 May 2008 at 8:28 am #
Claudia, wherever you came from, whoever raised you, they did it right. Congrats on being so fortunate in your family — and in both of your mothers!
My mother took foster kids. We had tons of them, along with exchange students. They were ALL ‘real’ kids. My parents never differentiated except, perhaps, to expect me and my sister and brother to be generous and open with our home, possessions, space, and attention.
I have an adopted sister now, and she’s been in our house since she was nine months old. She’s just as much my sister as my other sister. And yes, if you pinch them, they will both sock you back. Just like real sisters.
As for what my mother loves about me, well, I hope she loves that I took to heart the lessons she and my dad taught me about generosity of spirit. What I love about her is her unstinting desire to be better, give more, and be more. Which she does — many, many times over.
Great bloggage, Claudia! A good one right before Mother’s Day!
Kathy/Cookiedough on 10 May 2008 at 8:30 am #
I feel they have been surrounded by so much love from birth mom side to their side and never once did I feel they felt left out of anything when it came to family.
My elderly aunt once made a derogatory remark about adoptees being not really family.
Both I and my sister in law, who was adopted, just looked at her, stunned that she felt that way! I had to remind her that my children were loved and part of a great huge family!
Kathy/Cookiedough on 10 May 2008 at 8:32 am #
oh, and they have been sending me email Mother’s day greetings since they were young teens!
I am so blessed to know them!
Lisa H on 10 May 2008 at 9:00 am #
Claudia, what a beatiful tribute to your parents. My best friend, Maxine’s parents divorced when she was only 5. Her mother met and remarried “John” who is the only father my friend remembers. She loves him dearly and calls him Dad. She has never had any interest in connecting with her biological father, for John has been everything to her and her sisters.
What makes a family? Love. Loving others and giving of ones heart. It doesn’t matter if these children came out of your womb or your prayers, they are YOURS and that is all it takes.
God blessed me with 3 biological children, but if I had the opportunity to love one not born to me, I’d take it!
Lisa H on 10 May 2008 at 9:02 am #
My parents always said they loved me because I was theirs. My mom said I was an angel (until I turned 17) and my father always said I was too smart. I still have my parents and they still love me!
Margaret Garland on 10 May 2008 at 9:03 am #
Oh you all! I am in tears now. Kathy, your story is so wonderful and uplifting. I can only imagine the mourning you must have done. But what a glorious gift you gave those babies. I think they have had 3 great parents. They must be wonderful people with large and expandable hearts to include you in the lives of their children. Not a bit of wanting to hog all the love for themselves only.
I’m sure these young men are going to be assets to the world with the upbringing they’ve had. Good on you, kid.
I am off today for a party with my blended family of bios/steps/halves. Reading this blog today makes me anxious to get there. Thank you, Claudia, so much!
Claudia Dain on 10 May 2008 at 9:23 am #
I’m sitting here, tears in my eyes at all these wonderful stories about the power, the sweetness, of love. We write and read about romantic love, but family love is an equally awesome power.
Thank you all for sharing your family love stories. It uplifts me.
Lisa H, you said so well. A family is created out of love, loving others and pulling them in to your life.
It’s hard for me to form a coherent response to all these lovely posts. I’m feeling very emotional at the moment.
Claudia Dain on 10 May 2008 at 9:27 am #
And Karen H, you’re so right. Both of my mothers were amazing women. One of the many gifts my mom gave me was to praise my birth mother over and over for her incredible sacrifice in giving me up.
When I was pregnant with my first child, that was when I understood fully what a mother will do to protect her child, that she will sacrifice her own happiness for the hope that her child will have a better life, a safer life.
Mother love is a wondrous thing to behold.
Claudia Dain on 10 May 2008 at 10:26 am #
Let me add my own bitter tale to the “real kid, real mother” chorus.
When my mother died, someone in my DH’s family said, by way of comfort, “At least she wasn’t your real mother.”
I looked him in the eyes and said, “She’s the only mother I’ve got.”
It was an Awkward Moment, to say the least. Why, oh why, do people think that this bond is so weak? So meaningless? Have you noticed that when a news report is given about a death, it will read, “Ann Morton, adopted daughter of Mr. Big Time, died today…”
What?! Does being adopted mean that she was less his daughter? That he will grieve less because she wasn’t “real”?
I have never understood this not-so-subtle prejudice.
Karen Hawkins on 10 May 2008 at 10:36 am #
Claudia, so many times, people talk out of lack of understanding and not through intentional disrespect. Somewhere, someone didn’t GET what it means to be lovingly and freely adopted, to be a true part of a family, to be totally accepted and loved without limit. They just don’t understand and so they tuck it into another area, another pocket of preconceived values and thoughts. It’s simple ignorance and nothing else.
Like Sabrina said about people who suggest we don’t write ‘real’ books, most of them don’t understand the true triumph of being published, the rich and rewarding genre romance has become over the years, or the difficulty of writing a book when they make those comments. When they say those things, you have to take a breath, back off a second, then respond in a way that gently refutes their ignorance. Some will get it, and some won’t, but at least you defended yourself with grace.
Karen Hawkins on 10 May 2008 at 10:38 am #
Kathy, that’s a beautiful, beautiful story! It sounds as if it was meant to be, too.
You’ve been very generous with yourself, your children, and your love. Congrats on being such an exemplary Mother and putting them first, even though it had to hurt like the dickens. It’s wonderful they now know you, and yet were able to stay together over the years, too, and be a part of a stable loving home. I hope you have a warm and sunny Mother’s Day! You deserve many, many of them!
Yasmin on 10 May 2008 at 10:43 am #
Happy Mother’s Day Everyone!!
My sister and me have a diferent father than my two younger brothers. My mother doesnt believe in steps. Growing up my mother always told us you are siblings, brother and sister. Once I had a friend in H.S. ask me why do you and your brother have different last names. I told her we come from diferent father’s but she was confused because I call my stepdad just dad. I told her he is my dad. He’s the only one i’ve known. My mom left my biological father taking with her only my sis not knowing she was pregnant with me. All the memories I have and all the pictures I have as a baby are with him. I dont feel the need to look up any of my “other” relatives because i consider the ones being there the ones that count. I have never met them and i dont want to. I am not sure that they know i exist but they know that my sis existed and never made an effort to keep in touch. Fast forward to 5 years ago, my parents were going through a separation……continues
Yasmin on 10 May 2008 at 10:55 am #
continued……….my dad made the mistake of starting to make difference between my brothers and us to try and hurt my mom. I was very hurt by him because I had always been daddy’s little girl. I was very close to him. He knows that he made a mistake and asked for forgivenes of me and my sis. They are still tring to patch things up but now he has learned that whatever he has with my mom, he dont involve us. My mom is one of the strongest persons I know. She has always taught us to settle for anything. Dont you guys just love family. Sometimes we fight like cats and dogs but like my little says ” It’s tradition”
Kay on 10 May 2008 at 11:12 am #
Claudia, I’ve been crying for over 10 minutes. It’s still hard to see the keyboard for the tears. That was one of the most beautiful things I have ever read.
It touched me so much because my kids were adopted.
Cookie, you are an angel. I wish we had information about my children’s birth families, but we don’t. We did an international adoption, and they were “closed” adoptions. I send pictures and letters to the adoption agency, hoping that my kids birth mothers will someday look in their files.
Thank you both for a great mother’s day present.
Happy Mother’s Day, everyone.
Freedom Writer on 10 May 2008 at 11:17 am #
My dh’s brother was adopted. My in-laws treated him better than they did their natural born son, my dh, but something never connected with my bil and his parents. I remember the first time I ever met the family, and it was made very clear to me right off the bat that my dh’s brother was adopted. When my dh’s grandfather died my bil was 18, and at the funeral my bil said to my dh that he didn’t see why he had to be there since it wasn’t his real grandfather. At my bil’s wedding we were all treated like unwanted guest who were invited out of obligation rather than part of the family. My bil always treated me well. I think he saw us both as outsiders in the family.
Claudia Dain on 10 May 2008 at 11:23 am #
Karen H, I agree with you completely. Most times when people say hurtful or insulting things, it’s out of ignorance. It’s why I rarely get upset, especially about the “real” books thing regarding romance. I wasn’t even upset by the “not your real mother” remark because I understood the intent. But it’s stuck with me because it points out the epidemic ignorance about adoption, even the non-legal ones like yours, Yasmin, with your “real” dad, the one who raised you.
Your parent is your parent, no matter where they came from, how they made you their own.
Kay, and everyone else who made a child your very own, YEA!! Just…YEA.
Claudia Dain on 10 May 2008 at 11:26 am #
That’s so sad, Freedom. It happens sometimes, even with bio kids. I’ve chosen to think that it’s more a matter of personality than biology. Some people just don’t bond well. There are lots of “real” kids who hate their parents and move away as soon as they can. It’s always shocking and sad, but it happens sometimes.
RevMelinda on 10 May 2008 at 11:34 am #
I saw a wonderful new movie yesterday, “Then She Found Me,” with Helen Hunt, Bette Midler, and Colin Firth. It’s about a woman who is adopted, whose birth mother suddenly reappears in her life just as she is trying to have a baby (and failing, she’s 39). It’s a beautiful, funny, and moving little film that made me think about mothers and daughters, families born and made, and what it really means to be a mother. I just loved it and I could see it over and over. The ending made me cry–tears of joy and gratitude. If it’s playing anywhere near you I think seeing it would make the perfect Mother’s Day gift for any mother (or anyone who has ever had one).
Judy F on 10 May 2008 at 11:40 am #
You all are making me cry… Such great stories.
My brother Jeff’s oldest isn’t his, he met his then wife while she was pregnant. (long messy story) but they fell in love and he raised Mandy as his own. I remember my sisters MIL asking me when they got divorced if I would still be in contact with Mandy..I was like why not she is still my niece. I agree people just don’t think sometimes.
A good friend of mine has two great kids her and her husband adopted. I can still here the joy in her voice when she called me this past nov to tell me that they were picked by a family. Bless that young mother.
Yasmin on 10 May 2008 at 11:43 am #
I am sorry Freedom for that. i guess you have to accept it yourself first. I didnt find out he wasn’t my real dad till my cousin blurted it out to me and i was hurt that day. But i remember the next day I was like “okay i dont really care” in my 9 yr old self. My dad has 9 brother’s and sisters. The ones in Guadalajara Mex are great to us. They are seven boys and 3 girls from 2 different marriages. I have seen them maybe a total of 5 times in the course of my 22 yrs but they treat like their own. I remember that my cousin(all boys) and uncles wouldl not even let us walk to the corner mini mart because we are the only girls born into the family and something could happen to us. They are so ever protected but that just made us feel loved.
Kim on 10 May 2008 at 2:56 pm #
(((((Claudia))))))) That is such a wonderful beautiful tribute to all your parents. Your making me bawl here!
Kathy–your story is equally wonderful! How hard that decision must have been for you. Your sons sound like awesome wonderful men.
I just don’t understand the comments about “real” parents. I’m not adopted, no one close to me is adopted but to me; love is love. An imbilical cord does NOT create that bond. An open heart does. At times the close mindedness of people breaks my heart.
All through our struggle to have a child adoption was always something we were both completely open to. We would have loved to give a child, any child a home and all the love we could.
The other day on the news there was a story that CPS took 2 four year olds out of a home where they had been tortured. I won’t go into the specifics but it was horrific, they even showed pictures on the news. My husband sat there with tears in his eyes and asked me how those people deserved two children.
Kim on 10 May 2008 at 3:01 pm #
Cont..
Two children they choose to abuse and not cherish. He asked me why they deserved those children when we would have loved them wholeheartedly whether they came from our DNA or not. What do you say to that?
Another thing I don’t understand is when childless couples want to pursue adoption but don’t because of the close mindedness of their families. “What if my parents won’t accept my child?” My answer is simple: “SO what? Its your child, your heart, your love. Screw them.”
Aspen on 10 May 2008 at 4:20 pm #
Claudia,
My sisters were adopted at birth and I was born six months later. My parents did not keep the adoption a secret from them but saw to it that they saw it as something special. They were chosen. How cool is that?
One of my familys favorite stories is when we were very young and my mom had been reading us stories on adoption. I asked if I was adopted and my mom said no. Then my sisters asked if they were. When my mom told them that they were they turned to me and said “Poor Aspen.”
I plan to adopt someday and create my own chosen family.
Hurts… People are sometimes insensitive. “You’re their only real daughter” etc. People have told me this a few times. What amazes me is that it is not only kids that have told me this but adults that should have known better. Claiming that my sisters areimposters makes a mochery of my family.
My sisters did meet their birth mom (as oppposed to real mom). You are right to keep her a mystery. Honoring your real mom and real family
Claudia Dain on 10 May 2008 at 4:54 pm #
So many wonderful, tearful stories!
Oh, Aspen, “poor Aspen” who wasn’t adopted. That’s a funny turn on the scenario, isn’t it?
My parents always told me my adoption story, how much they wanted a child, how I was the first child in a CA state adoption who was given to a family where one of the parents was disabled, which made the whole adoption process such an uphill battle for them.
My parents never told anyone that they had applied to adopt; they were too afraid they’d be turned down. They got the call on a Friday at 4PM. The case worker said to my mom, “Are you ready to be a mother of an adorable baby girl?” My mom sobbed, called my dad at work, he sobbed, everyone at his office congratulating him as he’s desperate to get home to his wife. They shopped all weekend for baby things. They had no nursery set up, not a single diaper or high chair or bottle. They got me Monday morning. I was 5 weeks old.
And that’s my adoption story.
Claudia Dain on 10 May 2008 at 4:55 pm #
Kim, horrible people are horrible people, whether they share your DNA or not. That’s what I have to say to that. What else is there to say?
Judy F on 10 May 2008 at 5:27 pm #
Claudia your story sounds like my friends. Their oldest child was 3 so they no longer had a nursery set up. They got a call on a friday afternoon saying we have a son for you can you get here by tomorrow. Yikes.
When they adopted their oldest I got her the Jamie Curtis book. Tell me again about the night I was born. Melissa loves it to be read to her every night.
Happy Mothers day to all
Claudia Dain on 10 May 2008 at 6:42 pm #
Judy, I’ve heard about that Curtis book. I’ve been meaning to read it; it sounds great.
Happy Mother’s Day!!!!
Kathy/Cookiedough on 10 May 2008 at 10:38 pm #
Happy Mothers Day everyone!
My pc froze all day and I had to finish work on my video. Anytime I got it unstuck, I had to go back in afiddle with the programing. arghgh
Otherwise I would have been back sooner!
It is so late now I must go to bed!
Kathy/Cookiedough on 10 May 2008 at 10:38 pm #
my time is two hrs later than the time stamp.
evlqn on 11 May 2008 at 12:35 am #
My sister and I just got a Mother’s Day poem our mom wrote for us. I checked my email and there it was. Mom is a poet and we always know that she will send us a poem to commemorate all occassions. We have piles and piles of her poetry and we know that she is thinking of us. We don’t always get along or understand one another but we always love one another. Mom is a neat old broad that my sons named a “Blue-haired Dragon” and she wouldn’t give up that nickname for anything in fact when we go into the stores we always ask for the blue-haired dragon discount.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the Goddesses and all thier families.
Margaret Garland on 11 May 2008 at 5:55 am #
Happy Mother’s Day to all my goddess friends.
I just wanted to tell you all about the party yesterday. The people who were there were my extended family and one neighbor of my daughter’s. Also her best friend of 20 years. It started out cloudy and chilly. You’d have thought we were at a rugby game. Later, the sun came out and it was perfect. Lots of food, lots of visiting, lots of fun.
On the adoption/bio theme. There were bios, adoptees. steps, halves and fosters there. The fosters are in the process of becoming adoptees. Adorable 7year old twin girls. We were definitely a blended bunch and it fit just right.
cail on 11 May 2008 at 9:41 am #
greetings from the Bay area! i wasn’t able to chime in yesterday since I was traveling, but these stories are so beautiful. i’m all choked up.
no adoptees in my family, but one of my best friends from college is adopted and i’m very grateful her mom brought her to the US so I could meet her and become her friend.
Ellen on 11 May 2008 at 3:30 pm #
Beautiful…just beautiful. Thank you C