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Dear Birthparents,
We are Dave, Kathleen and Mariska.
We greatly appreciate you reading our letter and
considering us as an adoptive family for your precious
child. We
can only imagine how difficult this time is for you.
We admire your strength, and hope that we can
bring you peace, knowing that your child would be safe
and surrounded by unconditional love from us as well as
our family and friends.
With your act of kindness and pure generosity,
our dreams of building our family can come true – and
for that, we thank you.
We met 13 years ago at an accounting firm in downtown
Chicago.
Kathleen was in human resources and Dave was hired to
run the technology help desk.
Ironically, Kathleen gave the orientation class
that Dave attended on his first day and it was pretty
obvious to everyone else in the room how they felt about
one another.
We became friends instantly and within a few
months were dating.
A year and a half later we were engaged and have
now been married for ten years.
We are not only husband and wife; we are good friends.
We are fortunate enough to share the same dreams
and beliefs.
We have a relationship that is based on trust,
companionship, and love.
We complement each other in so many ways and
respect and believe in each other.
Dave is now a Sr. Project Manager for a major
corporation and Kathleen is Vice President of
Development for a non-profit agency.
Our Home…
we live in a wonderful community and are surrounded by
great neighbors and lots of children.
Our house, which we built two years ago, has a
beautiful front yard and fenced in backyard.
We purposely chose our lot so that we would be
within walking distance of the elementary school, junior
high school, park and community pool/clubhouse.
We have a spacious 4 bedroom home with 3 ½
bathrooms, a big kitchen and family room area, as well
as a formal living room and dining room.
We also have a great playroom off the kitchen
which has been really terrific and very convenient.
Two of the bedrooms upstairs share a Jack & Jill
bathroom – Mariska’s bedroom is on one side and the
adjoining bedroom is just waiting to be filled with the
sounds of a siblingJ.
Leisure Time…
we all live a healthy lifestyle by eating smart and
including exercises and activity in our schedules.
Kathleen loves to run and typically runs between
15-20 miles a week.
Dave enjoys lifting weights and most evening’s
sneaks down to the basement after Mariska’s gone to bed
to get his workout in.
In addition to exercise, we also enjoy spending
time with our friends in the neighborhood as well as our
families.
One of our favorite past times during the summer is
spending afternoons at the pool.
Our sports complex in the community actually has
three pools – one for the younger children which has
small waters slides, fountains to run under and all
kinds of pool toys.
The other two are for sports and for regular
swimming.
They always have music playing and have a great snack
area. Dave
loves to fish and will sneak out of the house early on
the weekends to cast a few lines in the nearby lake.
During the winter months we try to do some kind
of activity every weekend such as ice skating, going to
bounce-town, or swimming at the health club we belong
to. This
year we started the “Shuffle club”, which is made up of
five families in our neighborhood and we get together
the last Sunday of every month and have dinner together
and let the children play.
Between the five families there are 8 kids and
they have such a blast!
Our Families…
Dave is the youngest of three having an older brother
and sister.
David’s sister who lives in the area, is married and has
two children – both through adoption.
Both children were adopted from birth and have
been loved since the day they came home from the
hospital.
They are a great source of pride and joy for all of us
and are loved beyond words.
In addition to Dave’s sister, his parents, grandmother
and brother all live in the area.
We have great family get-togethers and are really
enjoying watching the children grow up.
Kathleen is the youngest of two and has an older brother
who is married with one child of his own.
He and his family live in New York City and Dave
and I are godparents to their son.
Kathleen’s parents are retired and just moved
back to the area recently and built a house right down
the street from us – it is simply wonderful having them
so close!
We feel very fortunate that our families really enjoy
spending time together, especially around the holidays,
which is our favorite time of year.
We always make a big deal out of Christmas with a
big family celebration, an open house for friends and
neighbors and now we have Mariska’s birthday celebration
at the same time as she was born on December 17thJ
- so we’ve really enjoyed throwing her a big party every
year.
Our Dog Zeke…We
share our home with our dog Zeke who is a 26 pound black
Pug. Dave
gave him to Kathleen for her birthday and he is truly a
member of the family.
Zeke has a wonderful personality and is terrific
with children.
He and Mariska are the best of buddies.
Our Daughter Mariska…she
is a precious gift; truly an angel that we thank God for
every day.
We adopted Mariska with the help of JOH in December
2005. She
is bright and energetic and incredibly independentJ
She loves to dance and paint, play with dolls and
anything that has to do with horses!
She attends a wonderful daycare program that is
very educationally based and just loves it!
They do crafts every day, read books, sing songs
and do fun projects together.
She goes to ballet class and tumble bears each
week and often comes home and demonstrates her latest
dance moveJ.
She is a happy, healthy, loving child that is
surrounded by a cocoon of family and friends that love
her.
Parenting…
We believe we are good parents.
We have been talking about and dreaming of having
a family since we first started dating.
We believe that being a good parent starts with
creating a good foundation; and that foundation is based
on love, partnership, good values, trust and humor.
We will support another child just as we support Mariska
– emotionally, financially, spiritually and
educationally.
We believe it is our responsibility to provide a
safe, healthy and nurturing environment in which our
children can grow and develop, and to provide the proper
guidance and values to help them achieve their dreams.
We would love to share our lives, our family and our
friends with another child and would be honored if you
would consider us as adoptive parents.
Your child will always know of your love and
courage and we promise to cherish your baby with love,
support and provide every opportunity possible for them.
Adoption has been part of our family long before we
welcomed Mariska into our life.
David’s sister and her husband adopted both their
children Lauren and Steven.
Mariska’s adoption experience was a wonderful one
for us, and without adoption, we would not have been
able to start a family.
We know this letter can only
give you a small glimpse of who we are and what we can
provide for your child.
We would welcome the opportunity to answer any
questions you may have by phone or through a personal
meeting.
Thank you for choosing adoption – we are in great
admiration of your courage and for providing the
opportunity to a family like ours to know the happiness
of raising a child.
We dream every day of building our family and are
grateful for your consideration.
With warmest wishes,
Dave and Kathleen
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