Adoption Makes A Family
Konnie and Krys
Joliet, IL
In 2013, Krys and I decided to embark on a journey to start our family. With a love for helping others, a love for children and open hearts, we became foster parents. Flash forward 7 years and suddenly we have 3 adopted children about to be 6, 5 and 3! Thinking we had completed our family with our last adoption in 2019, we found a new way to help by volunteering at an orphanage in Honduras. The first year just I went with a group, to deliver brand new clothes, shoes, toiletries and goodie bags for the kids. All of the children surrounded our group with love and appreciation. One group of siblings, 3 girls specifically were attached to my hip the whole time. Of course my motherly instincts kicked in and I would hug them and tell them they are loved. I would spend an entire year missing them deeply, talking to the oldest on social media as often as I could. This past February, Krys and I both made the trip. Never expecting to even think about adding to our family. We gave any child we came in contact with attention and play. These girls though, just naturally felt like our children. By the end of the trip, we were having the conversation about adoption possibilities. The girls all expressed their desire to become part of our family, we felt the same about them. We cried as we said our goodbyes and the oldest slipped me a little note. On the bus ride to the airport I read it and wept. She thanks us for everything we've done, says 3 days was not enough for her, she wished she had an eternity with us. She expressed her love for us, her gratitude for caring for her and her sisters and just how much she was going to miss us every day that we were gone. We knew then that our family had just grown to 6 children. We didn't know how or if it was even possible but we knew these girls were meant to be a part of our family. So here we are, on a mission to bring home Dayana (14), Jeisel (10) and Natalia (8) to love, nurture, encourage and give them a family that will always be there for them. We're on a mission to bring our girls home.