I can’t tell you about me without telling you about Christopher.  As I mentioned, I adopted Christopher in April 1995 when he was just four years old.  Christopher came into the system the year before because had not been well cared for and was diagnosed as failure-to-thrive.  At that time he was three and a half and weighed just 26 pounds.

When I first met Christopher at the local group home for children in protective custody, it was love at first site.  At that time, however, circumstances prevented him from coming into my home.  Ultimately, the powers that be recognized that I was meant to be his mother and we began our life together when he moved into my home on November 3, 1994.

Having never been married and adopting a child with a difficult start in life, I found parenting to be a most difficult, but most rewarding experience.  Christopher was a handful and was often a challenge for me and those who cared for him.  As a matter of fact, he was asked to leave several daycare/pre-schools in town.  Eventually, we found Miss Edna who made a commitment to my boy and for that I will be eternally grateful!

Christopher grew into a strapping young man!  Nobody would have suspected his undernourished beginnings.  He also grew to be a wonderful, caring person who was determined to be independent.  That was a wonderful quality, but not the easiest to parent.  Add to that, academics were definitely not his thing.  Though fully capable, school never really had much appeal to Christopher.  That too was a parenting challenge!

In December 2007, Christopher was a passenger in a car crash.  He died later that night as a result of the internal injuries that he sustained.  I’ve reconciled myself to the reality that I will never get over his sudden death, but at the same time, I have learned to enjoy life.  He would have expected me to keep right on going.  After all, I never allowed him to use his rough start to life as an excuse for anything and his death will not be an excuse for me either.