Reunions

Reunions are interesting events. We reunion with family. We reunion with classmates. When we reunion with classmates and are "young" you often worry about what will other people think. Get about 20 years out from your graduation date and you aren't so concerned with how you look or what you do, you are just happy to see everyone.

I grew up with immediate family (grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins) all within a 3-4 hour drive, so we never had the huge family reunions other families have. Ours were mini-reunions - weekend trips to go skiing, attend sporting events, choir concerts and piano recitals. I had the good fortune to have my paternal grandparents live in our same small town so we saw them all the time.

Hope Cottage is planning a reunion and I can't wait. On June 6th from 2-4 pm at Hope Cottage we will have the 23rd Founder's Day Picnic. The event is open to anyone whose life has been touched by Hope Cottage. Many Hope Cottage Families are like the family I knew - birth families and adoptive families live close to each other and see each other with great frequency. Other Hope Cottage families travel the long road to Dallas, yearly, just for this event and the chance to "reunion". Whenever they come, Hope Cottage families reconnect with their past, their present and lay roots for the future. Plus we just have a ball! There is no cost to attend. We will have hot dogs, chips, cookies, drinks and entertainment galore, including a magician!

Spread the word - attendees can make their reservation by calling Michelle at 214.526.8721, ext 240 or e-mailing mosborne@hopecottage.org. Come on down and "we'll leave the light on!"

Tours, Tours, Tours

Part of the job of the non-profit Development Office is reaching out to the community at large and keeping them informed of what is going on at the agency. Every Development Officer has their "favorite" - newsletters, blogs, tweets, press releases, special events, public speaking - you name it - we are doing it. One of the favorite things we do here at Hope Cottage is to give tours. And let me say, right up front - we don't have babies living here - which considering how much I love rocking babies, is a good thing. Hard to get any work done when you are spending the day nuzzling, rocking and singing! Lots of people want to visit us at Hope Cottage and learn what we do. Hope Cottage has been placing children in homes since 1918 and we are fortunate to have a plethora of historical documentation. Pictures galore and newspaper articles like you wouldn't believe. Reading newspaper articles from the 20's and 30's is fascinating because it provides a glimpse into a world that no longer exists. People find adoption intriguing. Lots of questions that start "I read in the newspaper..." or "I saw this movie on TV..." and we are here to answer their questions. We love sharing our story with our guests and a humbled and honored they take the time to see what we do. We average 2-3 tours a week and love doing them. Come visit us at Hope Cottage - "we'll leave the lights on and the door open."