little Will little Will, how does your garden grow?

When we bought our current house 3 years ago the people who lived in it before us were big gardeners. Way too big of a garden plot for me to upkeep with 3 kids, so Jeffrey decided to just conquer a section of it and give it a go this year. It has great garden grade soil, so the soil is rich and doesn't need much added to it..... We started the garden today. Sometimes we can get glimpses of Will's past by what he knows how to do or what he is familiar with without us having exposed him to it. This digging in the soil and planting seemed to be something he was familiar with. He sure loved having a rake his size and carving away in the soil. We will see how successful we are at keeping the chipmunks out of the strawberries, tomatoes, squash, green peppers and pumpkins!

With it being Mothers day you can't help but think of Will's birth mom and the sacrafice she made giving Will up. Unfortunatly we don't even know if Will's birth mother is alive. That is one of the hard pieces of his being abandonded to take in. I do know that whoever did care for Will before he was taken to the orphanage did fill him with love. His blending into our family has been extremely easy. I have heard of adoptive mothers writing letters to their children's birth mothers every year on mothers day, so that is a tradition I am going to commit to, so Will may have a record of my thoughts and gratitude towards his mother.....I don't think a day goes by without my thinking of her.......

To our Little Will's mother,

I think about you every day. I wonder if Will looks like you, what you named him,...if you have his beautiful eyes and contagious smile.... I wonder if his personality is like yours, a little stong willed, but very loving and caring........I think about his first two and half years of his life and the life he may have lived with you. I know that he was very loved by you. I can just tell......it's a mom thing. Your son is a testament to the amazing mother you must have been. It often makes my heart hurt to know that my gain had to be your loss. In this lifetime we will never meet, for you were taken from your child(ren) before your time, but I know we will meet in the next life. I pray that I will have instilled the values and character in him that you would have done if you could have finished the job you started. I pray that he will go above and beyond the dreams we have for him.

I can't even imagine what your last moments with Will were. It is hard for me to even think of the pain you must have felt, knowing your only option was to leave him so he could live...I am thankful that you left him in a public place where he could be found and taken to an orphanage to be cared for after your doing the best you could with him for his first years of life.... I don't know what you would have thought about our family adopting Will. I'm sure it's not the plan you dreamed for him, and I am sad to know things are this way because we live in a fallen world. I want you to know that we are honored to be a part of your son's life and being his mommy,is a title I happily share with you. Adoption is what lead us to Will, and it was put on our families heart for a reason... We will do our best for this little man, and hope we will meet someday. I know God hand picked him for our family because of the circumstances that you were in. I do believe that with all my heart. I'm not sure if you are in heaven or not, but I hope that if you are you can look down on Will and see that he is thriving. He loves trucks, and cars, and jumping on his trampoline. He loves being outside! He has gotten over his fear of dogs and is now an official dog whisperer! He falls asleep in our arms every night and is loved by his sisters dearly. We read to him daily! He will start preschool in the fall and is picking up on his English very quickly. He drinks water all the time! Ice cream is one of his favorite treats! He loves to eat everything. He really loves his Ethiopian food, and we will continue to bring him to Ethiopian restaurants so he can love the food from his country. Hopefully I can master the art of Ethiopian cooking and make it myself someday! It is my hope that someday he will return to his country and help with his talents and motivation to make a difference...Happy Mothers Day to Will's first mom........who will always be in our hearts and thoughts as we raise this wonderful little boy.

Susan