Heroes

11 years ago today, Julie, Mary and I were living in Latvia.

I couldn’t have picked it out on a map prior to 2014, but there we were.

We rented an apartment in Old Riga for one month, all part of the adoption process required by the Latvia family court system.

On our second day there, we met up with Lola and her foster mom at court and they gave us “custody” for one month of monitoring, meetings and hearings. Mostly it was a time to unplug and get to know each other, and I can honestly say it was one of the best months of my life.

I love Lola, and I love her country. The month of getting to know each other was priceless.

At the end of August 2014, the first phase of the adoption process was completed and Lola was issued a US Passport, and we brought her home to Delaware.

I could write volumes about this, and I guess I kind of have.

But today - 14 years later - I wanted to give an update on Lola, and on Nadiya, both young ladies that we were fortunate enough to meet and welcome into our family.

Lola and Nadiya were both high school age when they moved to the United States. That’s a tough period of time in the growing up process, as you might recall. So imagine adding in a new country, a new language, a new family, new foods, new customs, new music, new everything.

Lola graduated from high school, went to college and is now an Occupational Therapy Assistant. She married a local Delaware man named Dennis Hudson, whom we love dearly, and they are living and working in the Norfolk, VA area. They have two cats. :)

Nadiya finished high school and went into the U.S. Marine Corps. While stationed at Camp Pendleton, she met and later married Nic Guzman, whom we also love and who is originally from Columbia but whose family now lives in Arizona. Nadiya left the Marines after 4+ years and is attending college in Southern California. Nic is leaving the Marines this fall, and they’re relocating to Central Florida. They’re expecting their first baby next February. They have two dogs.

To see both of these young women thrive is forever one of the highest highlights of my life. They both faced adversity that most of us will, thankfully, never experience. They dug deep and showed intestinal fortitude that most of us will also never experience.

They’re just good people, and they have taught me so much. For starters, how to keep a good attitude, to not be afraid of the challenges we face, and to focus on the positive and the future, not the negative and the past.

I could not be more proud of two people than I am of Lola and Nadiya, and Julie and I are proud to call them our daughters. We can’t imagine our family without them in it.

*Sadly, it is no longer legal for Americans to adopt children from Latvia or Ukraine. Please keep the tens of thousands of parentless children in those countries, and around the world, in your prayers.