Being Adopted – Unconditional Love
Ohio Christian University
Donald Keith Adkins
3/3/2013

Authors note: Week one English comp. II

It’s safe to say that one of the greatest feelings in the world comes from the warmth of being unconditionally loved. Whether that means the love of your spouse or partner, or the connection you share with your mom or dad. Even the loving bond between your siblings and friends. It was in August of 1974, the day before my very first day of school and I was 6 years old, my parents sat me down on the couch and told me that they had something they needed to explain to me and that it was very important that I listened very closely. My mind was racing trying to figure out what I had done to get into trouble. Each of my parent took one of my hands and told me how much they loved me, and how very special I was, now I was really confused because I already knew that they loved me because they had to, I was their little boy! They began telling me that now that I was going be in school and making new friends that some of them might ask questions about mommy and daddy, and one of those questions might be, “ why don’t you look like your mommy and daddy?” Instantly I ask, why don’t I look you?
My mother answered with, because daddy and I adopted you, do you know what adoption means? Of course being only 6 I did not know the answer. Then mom said, “that is what we want to explain to you.” She started off by saying again “son you are very special and I want you to always remember that.” I can remember still be very confused and a little scared, so with tears my little 6 year old eyes I ask, “why am I special, what is wrong with me?” With that question the tears began to flow not only from eyes but from the eyes of mommy and daddy as well. As my dad was trying to choke back the tears and clear his voice, he said little buddy there is nothing wrong with you, you are special because God chose you, and he said, “ you know who God Is don’t you?” I answered in a quivering voice, “yes, He is the one from the Bible that you been telling me about.” “Then I said but what did He choose me for?” So as my parents were looking at me in way that they had never looked at me, they began to explain about how they could not have children of their own, and they explained to me what an adoption agency was. They went on to tell me that God had placed me in the belly of my birth mother (the way that you would explain pregnancy to a young child) and that because she was only sixteen years old, that she was not old enough to take good care of me, so she placed me in the adoption agency’s hands to find me a good home. Because God knew that they wanted a baby son He lead them to the very agency that I was in. By this time there were so many questions in my mind, my first question was, “didn’t she love me?” My mother very quickly replied with “yes, she loved you unconditionally”, “ that means she loved you so much that she was willing to give you to someone that could take better care of you than she could.” Then came my second question, “then how could you and dad love me if I am not really yours?” but you are ours they both said, God choose to put you with us so that we too could love you