SimplySouthern
Smooth Up In Ya!
- Joined
- May 29, 2000
- Posts
- 11,775
For all of my complaining about small town life, today living in a small town made me the happiest woman in the world. I’m sure this same thing could have happened in any town in the US regardless of size, but it didn’t….it happened here and it happened to me.
For the past several years, I have been not only a law school student and (eventually) a lawyer, but also a single mother of two sons I didn’t give birth to. My godsons have lived with me and been a part of my life for , well, all of their lives.
It’s not my nature to trash talk about anyone, and I’ll make no exception here. Their mother is, suffice to say, one of those people who don’t deserve the wonder and joy that having children brings. She found it too difficult to be a single mother and a woman at the same time.
These wonderful children have been my saving grace and my only source of sanity now for several years and it has been my ultimate goal to have them in my permanent custody. Without going into terrible detail, let me say that in NC if a biological parent has not seen nor had any “hand in raising” a child for a period greater than one year their parental rights can be terminated.
For the past year, I have been in a legal struggle to get these children in my full and permanent custody and to legally adopt them. I was not battling, as you may think, the parents but the legal system itself. As anyone who has dealt with the judicial system can tell you, it’s all about “hurry up and wait”. I’ve been patient, I think.
My boss and the head of the firm I work for has been helping and guiding me in this case. We were at the final step as of 2 weeks ago and waiting only for a final hearing date.
This morning, unbeknownst to me, several “conspirators” got together to make this the best birthday ever. It all began with the people in the firm I work for. They drew up a “dummy” draft of a Final and Permanent Custody Order naming me legal and permanent custodian of the two boys. They had it signed by all the people who will sign the “real” one and had it filestamped in the courthouse this morning (Sept. 25 at 8:56 AM – the exact date and time of my birth). The “real” originals are ready as well and lack only my signature to make them real and complete.
Dinner tonight, with my family. My oldest son presented these papers to me along with a picture/card he drew me on the computer which said “My Mommy is the best cause she didn’t make me, she picked me”.
There can never be another birthday to compete with this one. Ever.
Thanks for listening to my babbling…I wanted to tell someone
For the past several years, I have been not only a law school student and (eventually) a lawyer, but also a single mother of two sons I didn’t give birth to. My godsons have lived with me and been a part of my life for , well, all of their lives.
It’s not my nature to trash talk about anyone, and I’ll make no exception here. Their mother is, suffice to say, one of those people who don’t deserve the wonder and joy that having children brings. She found it too difficult to be a single mother and a woman at the same time.
These wonderful children have been my saving grace and my only source of sanity now for several years and it has been my ultimate goal to have them in my permanent custody. Without going into terrible detail, let me say that in NC if a biological parent has not seen nor had any “hand in raising” a child for a period greater than one year their parental rights can be terminated.
For the past year, I have been in a legal struggle to get these children in my full and permanent custody and to legally adopt them. I was not battling, as you may think, the parents but the legal system itself. As anyone who has dealt with the judicial system can tell you, it’s all about “hurry up and wait”. I’ve been patient, I think.
My boss and the head of the firm I work for has been helping and guiding me in this case. We were at the final step as of 2 weeks ago and waiting only for a final hearing date.
This morning, unbeknownst to me, several “conspirators” got together to make this the best birthday ever. It all began with the people in the firm I work for. They drew up a “dummy” draft of a Final and Permanent Custody Order naming me legal and permanent custodian of the two boys. They had it signed by all the people who will sign the “real” one and had it filestamped in the courthouse this morning (Sept. 25 at 8:56 AM – the exact date and time of my birth). The “real” originals are ready as well and lack only my signature to make them real and complete.
Dinner tonight, with my family. My oldest son presented these papers to me along with a picture/card he drew me on the computer which said “My Mommy is the best cause she didn’t make me, she picked me”.
There can never be another birthday to compete with this one. Ever.
Thanks for listening to my babbling…I wanted to tell someone
