High School Graduate Reflects on the Impact of Family - In Today's "Behind the Mission"

May 26, 2022

Occasionally, we like to take you behind the curtain for an insider's view of our community of care. Today we introduce you to Felix M., who will graduate this summer from the University of Central Florida and who wrote the following essay describing the impact that his adoptive family has had on his life:

 

It's a wild experience: You argue, you fight, you misunderstand, and you get upset. But in the same breath, you grow, you change, you love, and you progress. My experience has had its ups and downs, but I would say that it is in the same regard as any other family would have.

I know everyone wishes their original situation was better and that they never had to deal with this type of experience in the first place. I thought the same way for a while.

But in my case specifically, I am extremely grateful that I ended up leaving my biological family and coming into the lives of...(my adoptive family). There are so many experiences and perspectives that I have been able to obtain due to my adoptive family.

In the same regard that we have dealt with issues, we have experienced joys that I might not have been able to experience - no - that I definitely would have not been able to experience had I stayed with my biological family. I am forever grateful to them for taking care of me and my younger brothers.

It is world altering getting to grow up and see your brothers not have to deal with issues that we have previously had to deal with. We no longer had to worry about when the next meal would come, we no longer had to worry about the fact that our mother had not come home at the end of the day, we no longer had to worry about being cold, we no longer had to worry about who would be coming home, and countless other things that lingered in our everyday thoughts.

There will never be enough that I can do to repay...(my adoptive family) for all that they've done for us. But I will ensure that I pass on the love that they've given me to those around me and that I keep an eye open for an opportunity to do and be better.