THE PORTERFIELD FAMILY

DEAR FRIENDS AT ADOPT-A-CHILD

At forty-eight years old, and having four children at home, I thought life was as good as it gets. I am married to a beautiful and caring woman and our children are productive and healthy.

My life changed forever, however, when Aaron came to me and said she was yearning to have another child and a daughter, specifically. My reaction was not one of disbelief or frustration but simply curiosity. "So tell me dear, how are we going to do this-immaculate conception? And, that's when she explained Adopt-a-Child to me and what she was pursuing, in her head at least. And she was looking for the spousal buy-in. So a few days later after I was convinced this was not just a passing fancy, we sat down and went through the materials that Adopt-a-Child provided us. My first thought was, " am not dealing with all of this paperwork" And, as one would expect, Aaron jumped right in and said she would do all of the legwork and all I had to do was be Dad, which I am anyways.

Well, this journey started there and is still ongoing. But we now have a beautiful, soon to be three year old named Quin, that lights up every room and is 100% Porterfield. The other four were as enchanted. Now she's just a younger sister that gets in their way and steals the remote when Sesame Street comes on.

Quin came to us in Nov. 04 when she was thirteen months and after one week I thought she was a natural born Porterfield. In fact, we tell our friends that have only adopted children that there is not difference between the love one has for a natural born child and an adopted child-simply none. I am sure that hits home, at least I hope so.

Now, Quin is enrolled in a preschool and plays with all of the young neighbors. She will allow her Dad to age more slowly, he hopes, and let Mom have some more snuggle time at night. And, the journey started with the wonderful people at Adopt-a-Child. We continually hold them in our prayers and thank them for all of their work to help us help children.

If you are thinking about doing this-STOP. Quit thinking and put together an action plan to get your "Quin" in your home. We are forever thankfull.

Sincerely,

Jeff and Aaron Porterfield