Rhonda and Paul
They say “life” is what happens while you’re making plans and some of the best things in life are unplanned. Seems we have both found ourselves at that similar juncture in life.
We are Paul, Rhonda, and our son, Declan. We have been married for 14 years and have known each other since we dated in high school. Our son is in first grade this year. We spend a lot of time just hanging out together as a family. We play at our neighborhood park, go on lots of walks and try to get to the ocean as often as we can. If we use the picture with the dog in it, then that is Bella, our 120 pound Newfoundland. She’s in tow most of the time, keeps a watchful eye on all of us and is a lot of fun.
Our house is the gathering place for family and friends. We love entertaining, especially for the holidays. We have a diverse extended family and everyone is always welcome - the more the merrier, as they say. Rhonda is a great cook and loves to put on a feast. Paul is the extrovert and keeps the masses entertained with his great stories and jokes. Declan challenges everyone to “duck, duck, goose” and races around the house. Everyone seems to enjoy the organized chaos. They keep coming back, after all.
Paul is an account manager and works out of his home office. This allows him a flexible schedule and more time with the family. Rhonda works just a few hours a month outside the home, so she’s able to dedicate most of her time to parenting. Declan is a great kid, who is constantly surprising us with his knack for problem solving and makes friends of everyone who is around him.
Our interests as a family sometimes seem to revolve around whatever sport is in season. All of us are huge football fans, especially Declan, who also loves to spend time playing Wii with Dad or fetch with Bella. Rhonda likes to snow ski and take the dog hiking while listening to the latest additions on her iPod. She is also the family shutterbug. Paul is an avid reader and history buff who also collects mechanical watches and enjoys trap shooting.
As a family we’ve overcome our share of challenges. We never dreamed the hardships we faced would turn out to be our blessings. Declan was born premature, which had its own risks, and was diagnosed with a heart defect. After being in the special care nursery for eight days we also learned he had Down syndrome. When he was three months old he had surgery to repair his heart. Through all that we grew stronger as a couple and our little guy got a new lease on life.
Being parents has taught us the importance of patience and unconditional love. We waited a long time to begin our family. Now we have the time to focus on being parents and growing as a family. We had discussed adoption even before Declan was born, so it seems a natural choice for us to expand our family. We have a diverse circle of friends and a large extended family. Having another child and their birth family included in our lives is something we are really excited about. You can never have too many people to love in this world. In our opinion, open adoption offers many wonderful opportunities to welcome more than just one soul into the family.
Thank you for taking an interest in our family and reading our letter. You have already made two great decisions so far: You have chosen to consider adoption, and you have chosen to do so through OA&FS. We know that we would love to get to know you better, to hear your story, to meet you and find out who you are, how you came to be that person. If we can ever meet, then great, we look forward to that. And if not, then we wish you the best of luck and hope that at some point we at least brought a smile to your face. Whatever path you take we wish you unexpected joys.
Best Wishes, Rhonda, Paul, & Declan (and that big ‘ole dog too)
For this family's complete adoptive parent profile, please contact Open Adoption and Family Services.