New Parent Contact

Okay, so I go to my job interview with Megan Walsh here at La Familia for a position with this new service called NM Fiesta Project. I’ve met Megan before and she seems normal enough and not too threatening…still it’s my first job interview in about 34 years, so I’m feeling a little nervous. Should I wear the business suit and heels? Not finding anything that fits that category in my closet (okay, it’s hard to find anything but jeans….some days it’s even a challenge to find the closet) I did manage to get a shower and at least get there clothed and on time. I had already given Megan my basic information, so the first thing she said was, “Tell me about your interest in N.M. Fiesta,” and she poised her pen to take notes. I explain…

My husband, Ron, and I have twelve kids, five girls, seven boys, four adopted, seven grown, five at home, six bio, ten can walk, two use wheelchairs, ten grandkids, multiple pets, lots of doctor appointments, and four have special needs…okay fine, in this family we all have “special needs”. We have done specialized foster care through ARCA for about ten years. During that time we have fed kids through g tubes, given them oxygen, nebulizer treatments and meds, helped with prosthetics, devised ways to motivate acceptable behavior, answered the same autistic-driven question 472 times in one day, made untold numbers of mistakes, but mostly just made sure the teeth were brushed and the stories read and everybody tucked into bed on time.

I love to read any book related to adoption, (have you checked out the library here!?) love to help other parents find solutions to challenges or just be there to understand. We need each other because some of the things we go through as adoptive families cannot be understood by our best friends, our families, our bartenders or our pastors. Okay, I probably didn’t say exactly that, but something like.

So, can you believe it? I got the job! And I get a whole subcategory to myself! I’m here to support families who have adopted kids with special needs. You know when you start something new and you are excited and get inspired with all these great and interesting and outlandish ideas? Well, I’ve come up with a couple that actually have a chance of working, so I’m ready to get started. Please, please contact me if you have a suggestion, comment, challenge or just want to chat about your family. I can’t believe I actually get paid to do this! Come and introduce yourself if you see me at an event… I’m the young, beautiful blond with the perfectly behaved children….okay that’s a lie, you’ll have to look for my name tag.

Carol Gloetzner