One Being Adopted

THIS IS TOUGH

From the moment when a baby opens their eyes, it begins with a new life. Babies raised as children, growing into teenagers and finally into adults. Life is filled with the most unexpected surprises, good and bad. Yesterday was history, the present is known as today and tomorrow is the future and is to be always looked forward to. We all learn from our memories, mistakes, and events, they are known to be our life lessons. No one knows what can really happen, not until you progress them. That's why I would like to share my story, and maybe people can learn something from it.

I was born on March 7 of 1966 in Luoyang, China. From the beginning, my adoptive dad told me that I was adopted when I was three and half years old from China. He shared as much information as he could about my birth parents. I have never searched for my birth parents, but I have thought about it all of my life.

During on July 2010, my dad and I went to visit my orphanage in Luoyang. It was my first visit to Luoyang Children's Welfare Institute in my birth city. As soon as we entered the premises, two employees greeted us. I was being regular in the orphanage; both of them knew me well. After chatting with them for few minutes we went to see the children. As soon as they saw us, they ran towards us. All of them were seeking our attention. Some were showing us their toys, some new dress which they had and some were crying.

I questioned myself, are my parents alive? Do I have brothers and sisters that I don't know about? Are they still out there? Do I have their personality or talents? Would they recognize me if they saw me? I guess I have never wanted to hurt my dad with those questions, and I do think that it would crush his heart to tell him that I wanted to find my birth parents. But I do know that my birth parents loved me and desperately wanted to keep me but they just couldn't take care of me.

My life lesson from this experience is I would like to thank my birth mother for having me and for her to have the courage to give me to someone who would love and take care of me, when she wasn't able to. I realized that my birth mother had to made the hardest decision in anyone's life, the decision to give up her own child. It really mattered to me. The visit made me feel lucky that I was adopted by my dad, who loves me and cared for me. Later on, I will re-visit my orphanage and