Meet Renee

My photo for the first ever World Adoption Day (2014)!

Hi! I am Renee, and I am a big advocate of coffee, over-sized sweaters, and the oxford comma. When I became pregnant at 18, I knew two things for certain: 1) that I loved my baby more than words could express, and 2) that I wasn’t ready to raise him. Choosing open adoption was the hardest and best decision of my life, and to help me process the ups and downs of being a birth mother, I began this blog back in 2012. This site became many things: my way to talk to the baby I missed so much, my way of preserving the memories of his first milestones, my way of connecting to a larger community who also needed to know that they weren’t alone, and my way of sorting through my feelings as I continued to come to terms with my new definition of “family” and “motherhood.” Mostly, it was my way of telling Liam -my Little Man- why I chose adoption for him — for us both.

Almost seven years later, my Little Man is eight, and he is a dog-obsessed, guitar-playing, vegetable-loving (not my genes there), Star Wars fan, with curly blonde hair, my big, brown eyes, and a huge heart. We carry on good conversations (mostly about dogs, guitar, or Star Wars) and he talks a lot about “that one time he was in my tummy.” One day, when he’s older, I’ll show him these letters and we’ll have different kinds of conversations. For now (and always) the fact that I get to see & guide him through his life alongside his adoptive family will continue to be the biggest gift of my life.

A little about me personally: I have always lived either in the mountains or within driving distance to them because they are my home and my One True Love. I have a fiance and a wedding date set for October 2019, a dog that I smother with entirely too much affection, and a Sprinter van that I’m converting into a livable space so that I can indulge in my (constant & intense) need to travel and spend time in nature. I also have several tattoos, a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling, a freelancing career in social media management, web design, and writing/editing, and a very real love for the Harry Potter book series.

But what I have the most of in life is love and support — and that makes me the luckiest girl around.

“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they are never weakness.” [Brené Brown]

A shining role model of maturity and poise.