I Can't Answer Your Question

For a variety of reasons as of late, I've been hit with the question, "Why did you adopt Jumby?"

It's a well-intentioned question but I'd never go up to someone and ask, "So why did you crawl into the bed, have sex and decide to gestate life in your womb?"

Some questions just don't have adequate answers.

I wanted a child and I'm broken biologically. I have three kids who resembled my husband and I so it wasn't important to see a wee reflection of ourselves in a child. We only wanted a child.

Why did we want a broken child?

The answer to that is more complicated and as hard to articulate as it is capturing farts in a perfume bottle.

I've tried to answer that question honestly before we adopted Jumby as we were going through the adoption process and when we brought him home and introduced him to our lives. I've never been able to answer that question adequately though.

I still can't. Suffice it to say, raising children like Jumby and Bug makes me feel whole in a way I've never experienced before.

Yes, the future scares me, the realities can be a burden and life is more complicated with Jumbster than without.

No, I don't know what will happen when he grows bigger.

No, I don't know if he will even live long enough to grow bigger.

But do you know what will happen to your children when they get bigger?

Did you get a guarantee with your children they would outlive you? Because I didn't get that gift certificate with Fric and Frac and if they were handing those out, I was totally hosed.

The only thing I know about Jumby is that I love him. His father loves him. And his siblings love him. More than I thought possible and more than I ever could have hoped for.

And I'm not just saying that. I found proof.

So for all of you who have ever wanted to know why we adopted Jumby, watch this video. And then know I don't know what the future will hold any more than you do. But I'm not worried about it.

And you shouldn't be either.



(This is what happens when you run to the store for groceries and leave a video camera on the counter for your teens to find.)