Introduction
Dear Expectant Parent(s),
Hi! We are Brian and Laura, and we are honored that you are taking the time to read about us and our lives and consider how we might fit into your life story. Thank you for learning about us as prospective parents.
Our Story
We have been together for 20 years and married for 15. We met through a mutual friend at a party. After discovering that we both taught middle school and had a love of photography, we knew we had to spend more time together. This progressed to being each other’s best friend and, later, spouse. Spending time together is what we enjoy the most, and we look forward to having a child to share that love and time with.
Our weekends usually center around being outside, doing something creative, or just spending time together doing errands. We love to take day trips to explore a new place or take a nature walk, take pictures on the beach, or just walk through the downtown of a nearby city or town. We take lots of pictures wherever we go, so we have too many pictures on our phones! We also have a community garden plot where we grow lots of flowers and some vegetables (and weeds!) Mostly we grow vegetables for the squirrels, it seems.
Meet Laura (through Brian’s eyes)
Laura is the best friend and partner I could ever ask for, and I am so thankful for our lives together. When we first met, I knew that there was something special about her. She is loving and caring and a good-hearted person to the core who can always make me laugh. Laura is dependable, trustworthy, and has an easygoing spirit who reminds me not to sweat the small stuff.
Laura’s love of nature and the outdoors, especially all things birds and flowers, is contagious. Growing up in coastal RI/New England, Laura has a deep love for sand and surf, hunting sea glass and shells or poking through tide pools looking for hermit crabs. Laura is happiest when she is being creative and making things through gardening, baking, music, or arts and crafts projects.
Though she always wanted to be an astronaut growing up and spent some time early in her career as an aerospace engineer, Laura has found her true calling as a high school science teacher. She cares deeply for her students, and they, in turn, recognize that passion and dedication in her. Though some would consider her subject matter the hardest, she routinely has students tell her that she is their favorite teacher. Her professional schedule will be great for raising a family, and I know Laura has already thought of all the fun summer adventures to be had with a future child.
Meet Brian (through Laura’s eyes)
Brian is a soft-spoken, kind-hearted, hardworking, and empathetic soul who always puts others before himself. He has worked with children in various ways over many years through volunteering or teaching. Brian laughs easily, and one of the many reasons I initially knew he was special and fell in love with him was how easily he laughed when talking to his mom on the phone. The respect he has for others and the kindness he holds for everyone is inspiring.
Brian is also very handy; he has a talent for woodworking; recently, he made cutting boards for everyone at Christmas, and they were beautiful. He tried oil painting during the pandemic and is now making beautiful paintings. He is also the one who keeps our house tidy and decorated for every holiday.
Brian is a loving husband and a good person who is going to be an awesome dad! I can’t wait to see that and to share the love of a child with him. Raising a child and helping them explore life and the world is a joy I’ve wished not only for myself but for Brian, as well.
Our Home
We love our home! It’s located on a quiet and pretty side street in a Massachusetts city. It is a single-family home built in the 1850s, which we have lovingly restored over the last 13 years. We have a patio out back where we like to grill, eat, and do some gardening (in addition to our community garden plot) when the weather is nice.
Before we bought our house, we lived in an apartment across the street for a few years. We both remember dreaming about how nice it would be to live in the house, with a family of our own, the city with so many activities and places to explore, right outside our front door. This dream became a reality through some chance and good luck, and we are so thankful for it.
Our neighborhood is very family-friendly, with children of all ages. There are two nice playgrounds within a block of our house. A child in our neighborhood will be able to make plenty of friends! We are particularly excited to share with them the holiday excitement in our town, which has a large parade for children at Halloween and decorates nearby parks with dozens and dozens of inflatable decorations at Christmas.
Our Family
We share our lives with a friendly and active nine-year-old gray cat named Pemi. She is simultaneously affectionate and independent and sleeps most of the day away until it is time for her treats and snuggles. She is very much a member of our family, and we love her immensely!
Family is very important to both of us, and we cherish the time that we get to spend with them. Laura’s Mom lives an hour away, and we can see her more often since she lives so close. She lives by the beach, and often when we are spending time with her, we will go for walks on the beach or at the local nature preserve. Brian’s parents, his two brothers, and their families live a few states away, and we take several road trips a year to see them. We have made it a priority to be part of our niece and four nephews’ lives since they were born, and it has been a joy to see them grow into their own people with their own personalities throughout the years. They know that Aunt Laura & Uncle Brian always have a word game, funny story, or the occasional math or science problem up their sleeves waiting for them.
We can’t wait to build a family of our own and bring a baby up with the most loving extended family who are so excited to meet them!
Our Hobbies & Interests
We thrive on being outside. One of our favorite things to do is explore our area, whether going on a long walk or bike ride in the city or a day trip to one of the many parks, beaches, and quaint towns throughout New England. When we get out of the city, we love to go to the mountains of New Hampshire or the beaches of Rhode Island and Cape Cod.
We enjoy spending a lot of time in our community garden and being surrounded by nature. Laura spends a lot of time there during her free summers as a teacher, identifying all the different bird species that travel through the area.
Being creative is also a big part of our lives. Our house walls are filled with pictures and paintings we’ve made. Brian does woodworking; he’s made Laura a birdhouse that looks like our home and is also an all-around handyman. We love baking, and Brian has really excelled at bread baking recently, perfecting the dough for our Friday pizza nights. Laura has sewn most of the curtains in the house and has enjoyed taking sculpture & pottery classes. We both are avid readers—Brian likes mostly fantasy and sci-fi, while Laura likes a good novel and non-fiction, usually having to do with nature.
Thank You,
Thank you for taking the time to learn about us and for considering us as adoptive parents. Hopefully, this book gives you a sense of who we are as people and as future parents and of the loving home and family that the child would be welcomed into. While we can’t fully understand how hard it must be for you to consider adoption, we admire the love and selflessness shown in making this choice.
We have dreamed of being parents for a long time and are excited to grow our family through adoption. While we know it will be happily hectic at times with numerous diaper changes and many sleepless nights, we are excited to welcome a child into our lives and for all that the future holds for them. We promise to give them unconditional love and support as they journey through life.
Please know that we are open to staying in touch to the degree you feel comfortable. We will always let the child know what a beautiful and loving choice their mother made to ensure they had the best life possible. Their birth story and how they came to be with us is unique to them and is something that will be honored and celebrated.
Again, we are grateful for your time in considering us, and we wish you all the best, whatever your decision may be!
With love,