Holiday Reunions

This past Sunday, Hope Cottage held its annual Holiday Reunion Party for adoptees, birth families and adoptive families. As far as anyone can remember, this event has been going on at least 30 years and provides a time for families to "reunion". As I have only been with Hope Cottage four months, I wasn't really sure what to expect other than lots of people, children of all ages, and lots of visiting.

The party was due to start at 2 pm and by 1:45 attendees were already arriving. Some arrived singly, some groups had to have come in several vehicles there were so many of them. Families arrived in all shapes and sizes. We had single parents, couples, parents with children of a different ethnicity. Some birth parents came singly and some had their entire extended family with them, including aunts, uncles and cousins twice removed. Some groups held a gift exchange and some were content to visit and exchange photos.

As I surveyed the room, it hit me. Every single person in attendance was there because they loved. Birth mothers loved their children enough to put the needs of the child over their own wants and desires and place the child in a stable home. Adoptive parents loved their child enough to accept the child's birth family and offer them all a place at the table. Teenage brothers loved their sisters enough to bring them to the party and sit quietly in the corner while sister and birth mom spent two hours catching up.

And how cool is it that since 1918, Hope Cottage has been able to be a part of this process by finding permanent, loving homes for the children? Pretty cool, if you ask me.