I thought I would let you know what it was about-After 28 years of marriage to Eileen, I have finally filed for adoption of the beautiful girl she had when I met her... I began the process shortly after we got married but I was dirt poor and all the money went to living rather then court process. Melissande has always been my daughter to me and I sort of lost track of the legal process. As her own three children have come into the world it has become the right thing to do. A few weeks ago I restarted the process. Yesterday it became official. What follows is the letter I wrote petitioning the court:
Over the course of the next few weeks I was happy to find out there was no such active figure in their lives.
Melissande’s birth father had made no attempts in any way, shape or form to be a father to her. Selfishly I am grateful for that. This allowed me to be the recipient of this marvelous child’s love and tender affection.
In the nearly 28 years since- Melissande has been my daughter in every way I can imagine except for the legality of an adoption.
Not only is Melissande loved and adored by her mother Eileen and me but by her brothers Spencer and O’Neill, her husband Greg and their 3 going on 4 children.
Melissande has an enormous capacity to love and is fiercely loyal to her friends and family.
If I were given a blank slate to make a request for the qualities of a perfect daughter, I could do nothing better than exchange it for Melissande. So I am blessed to adopt Melissande as my daughter.
Dear Friends and Family
You may have seen the somewhat cryptic post I put on facebook last week:
On a Sunday morning in January of 1983, a beautiful young lady walked into the fellowship hall of Samuel Lutheran Church in Muskegon, Michigan. My life was about to change. The young lady was holding a 15 month old child. I noticed they did not seem to be accompanied by a male of husband and father stature.
