Constance Parks is the grandmother and now adoptive parent of Malachi, Marcus, and Mikyah. This adoption holds a special place for me because I personally witnessed and also read about all of the barriers Ms. Parks had to overcome in order to adopt her grandchildren. When I first met her, she had overcome some of the bigger hurdles already. She had been fighting for over a year to obtain placement of her grandkids due to various reasons. She obtained placement, and when the case moved to adoption, she was ready and willing to do whatever was necessary to be approved for adoption. Although some of the things we talked about were personal and difficult to discuss when it came to studying her for adoption, she was an open book and was honest about the obstacles in her life. Ms. Parks does not drive, and takes the local bus system to all appointments. She and the kids had never missed appointments, school, therapy, or any other necessary event including court hearings that she wasn’t even required to attend. When I would visit, the kids would tell me about everything they are involved in. Malachi, the oldest child, is a wonderful football player, does great in school, and is polite and helpful to his peers. Mikyah is a shy, sweet young girl who was learning to write when I first met her. Marcus was also a shy young boy, who was too nervous to separate from Grandma to attend Preschool. Over the following months I watched all three kids improve, flourish, become outgoing, and gain courage and strength as they grew older. All three kids, despite traumatic histories, showed signs that they were loved, cared for, nourished, and emotionally supported in their adoptive home. On Adoption Day, it was truly an amazing and emotional experience seeing the family come together, finally. I happily supported this hard-working, dedicated, and driven grandmother in her quest to bring her grandchildren home.
-Hannah Gac-