Can you live a long life after cancer?

January 4, 2023 | Danielle | Cancer Survivorship | 0

It’s been more than 20 years since I was diagnosed with colon cancer. In some ways, it still seems like yesterday. In other ways, it seems like a lifetime ago. But I’m living proof that yes, you can live a long life after cancer. We’re all different: your cancer is different from mine. Even if […]

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Passing the Baton – My last post about adoption

November 1, 2020 | Danielle | Adoption | 0

Here’s why this will be my final post for National Adoption Month unless my daughter chooses otherwise.  Ten years ago in November 2010, I excitedly opened my laptop and began pecking away on a post that would announce big news: We were adopting! In a world that was saturated with creative pregnancy announcements and surprise […]

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A tribute to Ms. Linda – Birth Grandma in our open adoption

November 13, 2018 | Danielle | Adoption | 2

I didn’t expect my adoption post this month to be centered around the news of a funeral. But as I’ve processed the passing of my daughter’s birth grandma last week, there’s no better way to advocate for adoption right now. We met Ms. Linda shortly after we adopted Mae. She helped care for the child […]

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I wasn’t there, but I’m here now.

September 25, 2018 | Danielle | Adoption | 0

I wasn’t there when she took her first breaths of air, when the vibrations of her vocal chords sounded the alarm she was cold, hungry or tired. I didn’t see the nurses wipe her off, nor the fresh ink from a tiny footprint dry. I wasn’t one of the many people in the room who […]

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Mama, why was I adopted?

January 31, 2018 | Danielle | Adoption | 4

“Mama, why was I adopted?” The weight of her question barely registered as my mind focused on the invisible checklist that appears every time I exit the car: Purse – check. Wallet – check. Keys – check. Cell phone- Dang it – where’s my cell phone? In a flurry of my own activity, I nearly […]

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September

September 25, 2017 | Danielle | Adoption | 3

It was 2010. In the few months prior to the life-changing car ride my husband and I took passing fields upon fields to southern Missouri, I felt like I’d swum to the bottom of the ocean and was just coming up for air. For many months, I’d become familiar with the darkness of loss. I’d […]

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Our Open Adoption Birth Mother’s Story

November 23, 2016 | Danielle | Adoption | 0

It’s not very often that an adoptive mom posts a birth mother’s story. But, our open adoption is something special, and it’s an honor to share this piece of our story with you. From the night we first met our birth mom to today, a peace has followed us. Her strength is what helped our […]

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Trusting God To Provide – A Devotional on Finances

November 9, 2016 | Danielle | Adoption, Devotionals | 2

We couldn’t afford it. His middle school math teacher salary and the income I brought in from my small freelance communications business paid our bills, but it didn’t leave us much wiggle room for much of anything else – especially an adoption. “When you accept the call to adopt, God will provide… trust us.” Our […]

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Open Adoption Story (by a 6-year-old adoptee)

November 8, 2016 | Danielle | Adoption | 1

As a family impacted by adoption, we wanted to share our open adoption story for National Adoption Month. We thought it would be fun to capture our 6-year-old daughter’s thoughts this year, and to interview our birth mother as well. Who better to tell you about adoption than the adoptee and birth mother? Open Adoption […]

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