Part of the Family

Well, when you adopt, you just instantly become a part of this big, very big, international, very international, family! It's just how it is. You don't even know it is happening, and then it does!

So here's a peek into what that is like...

There is a family, that I have actually known since my Smucker days. Mark and Monica Miyashita and their two children, Lydia (born in China) and Max (born in South Korea). Mark (who by the way is Japanese) worked in IT when I worked at Smuckers, and was always a fun guy to be around. Everyone knew and loved Mark, and still do, I'm sure! I had the opportunity to meet Mark's wife a few years ago when Nate and I were attending an adoption class that is a requirement of the process. Mark and Monica were in process to adopt their son, and we were in process to adopt (this was early in our process).

Well, a few weeks ago, someone, somehow brought their name up in conversation and I said "Hey, I know them!" Then, sadly, I found out the topic of their discussion. It seems that their daughter, Lydia, was diagnosed with AML Lukemia. Lydia is 5 years old, and should have started Kindergarten this fall. She has been in the hospital in Akron, and I don't know the entire story of what all she has been through, but I know a few rounds of chemo are behind her, and she is currently in need of a bone marrow transplant... this is where "being part of the family" comes in.

You see, being adopted makes things like this a lot more difficult. There is no immediate, blood related people around to offer a transplant. Word got so far as a blood drive was performed in China to try and find matches, thousands of people came out to support. Her photo and story were then displayed on the news in China for several weeks, trying to find her birth family in hopes of a bone marrow match. Eventually (again, I haven't read every entry, but you should, and I will!) her birth family was found, and her birth sister is a match.

The process has been a roller coaster, and the family is now working to bring her birthfamily to the United States to perform the transplant. I recieved several e-mails in the last few days from adoption groups, working to raise money to help this family with the travel expenses.

Lots of prayers are going up for this little girl, and all that is going on in her life! Please take a moment to read her story, and pray for her and her families!

Here is the link to her CaringBridge website http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/viewHome.do

Also if you feel led to donate here is a link to an organization I am a part of that is trying to provide travel expenses for the birth family http://friendsofadoptivefamilies.com/current-news

God is Good!