Personal Narrative: Adopting A Baby Boy From Guatemala

In todays society it is ordinary to live life in a bubble; we are concerned about our families and friends but nobody else. As a child I remember asking my mother about all the other kids out in the world without parents or food to fill their empty stomachs. I was informed at a young age that not everyone is as fortunate as I am. A little over a year later, my family would make the decision to adopt a baby boy from Guatemala. Not only did I learn to not take advantage of the luxuries I have, I also discovered that family doesn’t always have to be blood. I came from an already sizable family; I had four sisters and one older brother. My little sister and I wanted a baby brother so bad we pleaded with our mother to ask the stork to drop a baby boy at our doorstep, with out knowing of course, that is not exactly how it worked. My parents thought it was time to make the decision to give a better life to a baby who needs home and loving parents. After a long wait my Parents received an email with photos attached. The emotions, our family was feeling could be described as love at first sight. He was only five pounds when he was born. Severely malnourished, with open hearts and arms J.R became a member of our family in 2005.

JR and Julian are complete opposites, but they cannot live without each other. Although, JRs birth mom cannot be found, we keep in contact with Julian’s birth parents and his siblings. Every year we send clothes, shoes, money, and other goods to them. We exchange pictures so that Julian is informed about where he came from. It really opened my eyes to see where they lived. They slept on a dirt floor, in very impecunious living conditions and their shirts were torn. Julian’s siblings didn’t go to school often and didn’t have much of an education. They began to help work on the field at young age, and yet they still smiled in every