Happy Birthday 16th Birthday Joshua!
16 years ago, we never thought our lives would change so much with a single phone call.
Dad got a call on a Saturday morning for a new baby born in the hospital and he needed to go in to do a newborn exam. Later that day he called and told me a young woman had given birth to a baby boy and wanted to give him up for adoption. The big question was “are you interested?” We had been discussing adoption and thought a little girl would be awesome to add to our family of 3 boys. Little did we know that God had much different plans for our lives! I said YES! I didn’t get to meet you right away but was so excited about having a baby in the house. We had talked to the other boys, then 10, 8 and 5 and asked what they thought. They loved the idea… Mark thought he would have his own playmate like David and John had each other.
Well things don’t always turn out the way we planned. God definitely blessed our house with you, Joshua! I can’t imagine what our lives would be without you. You brought a lot of change and trials but you also brought us joy, patience, self-growth and compassion. Wow that list could go on and on. Yes there have been many struggles, endless tears, and so many whys spoken but you Joshua outshine them all! You have given so much to our family including our extended family, friends and in reality 1000s of families have been touched by your life. I am thankful that your birth mom was strong enough to give birth to you and wanted a better life for you than she was going to be able to provide.
No, you won’t be getting your driver’s license today and I so wish you were. We will continue to look for ways to improve your life and those of all the other children who are affected by autism. I love sharing the drive to school with you each morning, listening to The Muppet Movie CD or Phineas and Ferb! Celebrating your birthday at Disneyland will be awesome on Saturday.
Thank you Joshua for teaching our family so many lessons and giving us the courage to continue on each day looking for new solutions to health issues or figuring out what the future will look like for you.
Happy 16th Birthday Josh! We love you!