[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.
____________________