Jennifer's story is a Mother's Day story

Jennifer’s story, well written, occupied a large portion of page A1 of the Beacon Journal on Sunday.

The story by Beacon Journal staff writer Kim Hone-McMahan, however, was as much a Mother’s Day story as it was about the adoption of Jennifer. It was a Mother’s Day story written by a mother (Kim) to tell how her son’s mission trip to the Ukraine brought Jennifer to a new life in Green.

In the summer of 2006, son Alex returned from a two-week mission trip to Ukraine. He and a group from Canton's Malone College had gone there to work with children living in some of the orphanages.

In tears, he vowed never to forget the boys and girls he left behind. Most would have very short lives.

A staggering 70 percent of orphans, according to one report, will die on the streets within five years of aging out of the system at about 16, victims of such things as suicide, violence and drug and alcohol abuse.

He ached for the children. The memories of their giggles made him chuckle. But their eyes, filled with longing, haunted him.

''The poorest of the poor here are rich to those kids,'' he said, dropping his head into the palms of his hands. Though Alex didn't know what it was like to be orphaned, he understood loss.

Three years earlier, he had unsuccessfully tried to revive his sister, Brooke, who had died during a seizure. The experience will forever be etched in his memory, the love for her forever imprinted on his heart.

''I just don't know what to do for them,'' he said of the orphans, his voice shaking. ''I'll be back there someday. If not before, it will be the day I adopt.''

For months, Kim and husband Chris discussed the children Alex had visited. In a country the size of Texas, there are some 100,000 children in institutions. Though we felt we were too old to adopt an infant, we agreed to bring a 10- to 12-year-old child into our family. Most youngsters that old don't find their forever families.

''We can never replace our sweet Brooke, but we feel we have more love to give,'' ChrisI wrote in a journal two days before Christmas 2006.

For the first few months in the U.S. , she grieved terribly for her Ukrainian friends, who were like siblings to her.She has turned 14 since arriving and had a party with her peers to celebrate.

At Green schools, she is one of about 150 students in the district whose native language is not English, and one of 50 receiving ESL services (English as a second language). While adolescents usually take longer than younger children to learn English, Jennifer is something of a star in her linguistic abilities.

It seems the folks at the orphanage were correct: She is very smart, and funny. And troubles like reactive attachment disorder, commonly found in orphaned and abandoned children, are nonexistent.

She's busy perfecting her English while learning about the Italian Renaissance and deep-ocean trenches. She's struggling to make sense of middle school social dramas. And, like many other young teens, she takes dance lessons, goes to movies and text-messages her pals.

In a word, she is a joy.

You will want to click on the headline to read all of this moving story by a mother on Mother’s Day. God bless you, Kim