First I would like to say thank you. The gift that you will give some lucky person will most certainly be a blessing this holiday season. I hope that you will consider my Aunt Melanie. She was in many ways my hero growing up. She adored my cousins and me, and always had a way of making us feel important. About 20 years ago she began a journey that led to outcomes no one expected. She decided to adopt a little girl. The little girl came to her, and the rest of our family, bruised and broken. Her biological family had committed every form of abuse that you can imagine on her. She was only 6 but had suffered so much. My aunt loved her fully and became devoted to caring for her. After a long and arduous struggle with the girls family, (they fought hard for her) her broken bones and broken spirit were enough to finally convince the judge that she belonged with my aunt, not her biological family. As time went on my aunt was able to, with intense therapy, help her to somewhat overcome the emotional scars but her physical scars would never leave. She had received so many head traumas that her brain growth was stunted. Now, 20ish years later, her capacity is severely limited. She will have to have constant guardianship for the rest of her life. Still, my aunt loves and cares for her. Linda is fully hers and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Several years later, while my aunt was working in the recovery room of one of the Center School Districts elementary schools she encountered two brothers that were in foster care. She knew that they were being abused but even after hotlining several times, the state was sluggish to respond. She cared so much for them that she pursued their adoption. Again, she was facing the battle of fixing the wounded souls and bodies of these children. She was willing to do it, at any cost, because their lives were worth more to her than her comfort. She also faced additional stresses with their adoption because she is white and they are bi-racial. She is often the recipient of judgmental glances or even rude words based on the fact that her children don’t look like her. Did she stop there? No, she adopted one more little girl. She has made so many sacrifices for them. I stand in awe of the giving and generous person that she is.

Unfortunately, that is not the end of the story. A couple of years ago she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Since that time she has gone into remission and been diagnosed again, three times. She has been fighting as hard as she can to beat cancer but she is once again in treatment. She recently was laid off from her job with the Center School District and is struggling to pay all of her bills. Our family has rallied around her as much as possible but with the economy like it is, we can all just do barely enough to get her through. No extras, no Christmas gifts, nothing but the basics.

I just heard from my mother yesterday that she has been having headaches. Her doctors are sending her for a CT scan this week. It is my desperate hope that the cancer hasn’t spread to her brain. If it has, it is likely that the prognosis isn’t good.

 I am scared for her and her children. I can’t even begin to imagine the world without my Aunt Melanie in it. The thing is, I am pretty sure that they have never had a family portrait. This gift that you are giving could be one of the best gifts for my Aunt Melanie. Also, if anything does happen to her, it would  be an amazing gift for her children. They have been and continue to go through so much. If you choose them, I have to believe that the portrait will serve as a reminder to all of them that they are a family. That this group of children that had no anchor in the world at the beginning of their lives most certainly had one in my Aunt.

Thank you again for your generous gift and for considering my aunt and her children as possible recipients of your gift.