At the end of the day ... it matters

I've got several things to discuss today, so please bear with me!

First, in response to a request by Sheri, I made the plural version of the Phenomenal Woman word art I posted recently. She had just enjoyed a gathering of friends for which she thought the phrase Phenomenal WomEn would be perfect, and asked for a special version of it. I should have done that earlier! Thanks, Sheri, for reading my blog and for your request. Download links are at the end of the post. Keep reading!

Along the same thread, Vera sent me a link where she had posted an album page on her blog, in which she used a word art I had prepared some time ago. I LOVE the way she did this. It's simple, uses the maximum amount of the page, emphasizes the people in the photo and not the art, yet it's clear she took her time thinking it through and preparing it. Great work, Vera! Thanks for sharing. She also has excellent tutorials in her Saturday newsletter, so check them out.



Now, back to Sheri for a few minutes. When I visited Sheri's blog after seeing her comment, I was immediately drawn to her life story -- at least the part that was visible at first glance. You see, Sheri is a single mother to two daughters she adopted.

It's a memory still close to the surface for me, and it often still brings tears to my eyes. I won't relate the entire story, but just let you know that adoption is a subject close to my heart. It's only been little more than a year that my husband and I learned that the adoption of a daughter for whom we had soooooo long been waiting would not come to pass. There were several factors involved in causing that huge disappointment, and that was our only chance. We deal now with the fact that we had used all the extra money that we had put away for the adoption and will be unable to do so now.

It still hurts with a pang in my heart that's deeper than words can describe. Someone else will read our little McKenna a bedtime story, and wake up to her smiles and kisses. Someone else will have the privilege of watching her play games with her friends, and teaching her how to cook. Someone else will enjoy the right to tell McKenna that God loves her and made her especially for us. She's out there -- I feel that just as surely as I feel the warmth of the sun on these hot August days.

Sheri's daughters both came from China. Our little McKenna would have come from near Beijing.

Thank you, Sheri, for the moments of pleasure seeing your adorable daughters, Mirielle and Maelynna.

With such thoughts on my heart today, I wanted to share this quote from an unknown source. I hope to see it on your layouts some day. Please.
Blessings to you and yours,
Melanie

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