[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 122 (Wednesday, September 12, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H5868-H5869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ANGELS IN ADOPTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Mississippi (Mr. Nunnelee) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NUNNELEE. Madam Speaker, this week, the Congressional Coalition 
on Adoption is recognizing the individuals and families from around the 
country who've enriched the lives of children through foster care and 
adoption. I rise this morning to share the story of a couple who have 
dedicated their lives to providing not just a home for children, but a 
family.
  Pat and Sandra Nunnelee, from Tupelo, Mississippi, had lived the 
American Dream. They married in their teens, and over the next 14 years 
had four children born into their family. When they married, Pat was 
working in a low-paying manufacturing job.

                              {time}  1050

  But he soon entered the profession of life insurance sales. He 
possessed a good personality and a strong work ethic. Because of that, 
he was a natural for the business, and his career advanced quickly both 
in income and in prestige.
  Sandra had a love of infants and a desire to be a nurse. However, she 
decided to forgo her nursing education and her career in order to get 
married and then raise a family. Later, she did enter into nursing 
school. In fact, she graduated from nursing school the same year her 
oldest child graduated from high school.
  By 1980, they were in their mid-forties, and they were enjoying the 
fruits of their labors together. Pat had become vice president of one 
of the largest life insurance companies in his State. Sandra was 
enjoying the love of her life--taking care of newborn babies as an 
intensive care nurse. They were enjoying a standard of living that 
neither of them had ever thought possible. In addition, empty nest was 
in sight. Two of their children were in college, and two others weren't 
far behind. In short, life was good. They'd worked hard, and they were 
nearing a stage of life when they could really begin to enjoy it.
  But any plans they may have made changed in November of 1980 when a 
little girl was born prematurely. That month, while America was 
preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving, we were watching the peaceful 
transition of power begin in the White House, and we were watching an 
international hostage crisis. So, when the world is watching Presidents 
and Ayatollahs, who cares when a little premature girl is born? Thank 
God somebody did.
  This little girl was born with numerous health problems, and the 
pediatrician's quick diagnosis was that this infant wouldn't live 
through the night and that medical staff should make her short time on 
Earth as peaceful as possible. At the conclusion of the shift, Sandra 
left her patient with the belief that this little girl would not be 
alive when she got back to work the next morning.
  Much to her surprise, when she arrived the next morning for work, the 
little girl was still alive. She'd proven to have a strong will to 
live, but she'd been abandoned by her parents. So, after 3 months in 
the intensive care unit, her pediatrician observed to Sandra one day, 
We've done miracles for this child, but the one thing we've not been 
able to give her is a home. She has never had anyone to hold her, to 
rock her, or to sing to her. Over the next few days, Pat and Sandra 
became foster parents. She left her job, and the child entered their 
home.
  Child number five.
  Three years later, Sunday lunch was interrupted by a desperate knock 
at the door. Sandra had taken a leave of absence from her job to take 
care of this little girl, and she volunteered to offer child care to a 
single mom from the hospital where she worked. That young woman was 
having a great deal of difficulty coping with the many demands of being 
a single mom.
  She desperately asked, Ms. Nunnelee, would you please take my baby.
  Thinking there must be some kind of temporary crisis, the Nunnelees 
replied, Yes, we'll be glad to take care of your child for a couple of 
days.
  The young mom responded, I don't want you to take him for a couple of 
days. I want you to take him forever.
  Child number six.
  Four years after that was another desperate contact, this one a phone 
call from the County Department of Human Services. An infant boy had 
been born with very severe heart problems. The doctor's prognosis was 
that he wouldn't live beyond age 10 or 12. His parents didn't want to 
keep such a sick child. There were no available foster parents with the 
medical expertise or the willingness to adopt such a child in that 
condition.
  The desperate social worker said, You've done more than any family 
should be asked to do, but there is nobody else.
  Child number seven.
  That child has lived more than a decade beyond the doctor's initial 
prognosis, and while he still has some health problems, he has recently 
completed school, and he has moved out on his own. For the first time 
in 54 years, Pat and Sandra Nunnelee don't have a child in their home. 
Oh, holidays,

[[Page H5869]]

though, are filled with the noise of seven children and their spouses 
and several grandchildren.
  In recounting their decision to commit to raising a second set of 
children at a time in their lives when their peers would be enjoying 
life, Pat loves to tell the story of a little boy on the beach. It 
seems a storm had washed several thousand starfish ashore, and as the 
tide receded, the stranded starfish were dying in the glaring sun. One 
by one, a boy began to hurl starfish back into the ocean. A cynical man 
observed his actions and commented on the futility of such efforts in 
light of the enormity of the problem.
  You are wasting your time. You can never make a difference with so 
many starfish.
  The boy simply hurled another into the sea and replied, I made a 
difference for that one.
  These are true American heroes. Their grandchildren call them Mimi 
and Pat-daddy. Their friends call them Pat and Sandra. My six brothers 
and sisters and I are proud to call them Mom and Dad.

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