Eric and Melinda

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From Us to You

We have talked about adoption well before we knew we wouldn’t be able to have a baby of our own. While we can’t say that we know what your feelings are, we can say that it will be an amazing and difficult process. We hope that we can convey that we will TRULY care for your child to the best of our abilities. We don’t pretend to understand the loss you will feel as a result of this process, but you can be assured that your child will be loved and cared for.

Our home is cozy and warm. Our pets are cozy, goofy and warm. We believe that your child will also grow up cozy, warm, and happy. At least this will be our goal for all time. He or she will never grow up without emotional, physical and financial support. We have a house and a bedroom just waiting for your baby to sleep in.

We have been together for 10 years. We have worked on ourselves and our relationship in order to provide a healthy home for ourselves and our future child. Eric has a great job and Mel takes care of the other things.

We are in our 6th year of “waiting,” which has had its ups and downs. Unfortunately we know the exact date of when we started trying for a baby; it was November 20th, 2016. Since then the process has felt like torture at times. We feel incomplete and it seems terribly unfair. That is life. We are nurturers, hoping for a little one to receive all of our attention. IVF is very hard and trying on a woman’s body; there are fights and there is physical pain, along with the crying. So much crying!

We look forward to being a part of this process with you. If we seem like a good fit for your child’s future, you can rest assured that he or she would be very loved and cared for. You would be doing something that science and technology have never been able to do, give us the family we have always desired!

We know this will be one of the hardest things you’ll probably ever do and you should know that your child will be well cared for, loved, educated, and raised in the best possible way available to us.

This letter has not been hard to write because we believe in this process and know that everything will work out. It will work out for you too, and hopefully we can be here for you as well as for your baby.

Sincerely yours,
Melinda and Eric

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Why We're Choosing to Adopt

We are choosing to adopt because we have the capacity to love someone who wasn’t born to us. We have the financial stability and long for the reward of providing for a child into adulthood. We know that love doesn’t have to come from our own genes.  Again, we had always planned to adopt for these reasons, it just became more poignant when it was our only option. At this point we are just very excited.

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About Eric, by Melinda

Eric is a very generous and good hearted man. The first time I met him I knew this and it has never changed. I always say he is like a crab, soft as can be on the inside but with a hard outer shell. He has affection for days and loves our pets endlessly… this is partially how I know he will love any child that comes to us. He is surprisingly good with little kids and it warms my heart. He can be contagiously funny and also a pill at times. But who isn’t? His sense of humor is so silly, you might call it “dad humor.” So it’s fitting. He will be a good example of how to be kind because he has a kind heart. He appreciates the uniqueness of life, I think we both do. If Eric can make it his “own” or customize it, he will. One of my favorite things about him is his childlike sense of fun. He plays Dungeons and Dragons every week without fail and it truly makes him happy.

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About Melinda, by Eric

Mel is the best person I have ever met. Seriously, she has no judgment and has really grounded me in the way I think about the world and people! After previous relationships, I had picked three things I wanted in my next partner, kind, thinks I am funny, and chemistry. Melinda not only checked all these boxes but quite a bit more. One other thing I love is that she is always willing to try new things and has embraced the outdoor activities I love as well as my hobby, Dungeons & Dragons! She is very caring and takes care of me when I need it. She is also very good at communicating and has taught me how to communicate better and how to think through my thoughts before blurting some knee-jerk statement! She is wonderful with our animals and will be a great parent. Your child will be lucky to call her mom!

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Our Home

We live in a green house with a yellow door that opens halfway up. We get to see the city across the sound from our home and it’s lovely at dawn and dusk. We live in a charming neighborhood built in the early 1900’s. We have many neighbors, many children and MANY dogs in the area. We live less than a mile to parks, schools and the only sandy beach around. Our access to our part of town has been cut off for 2 years now and there are signs in many lawns that say “would never leave even if I could,” and that’s how much we like it here too.

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Our Sweet Pets

We have the most wonderful pets! We almost always have had two dogs and a cat. Eric ended up with a rescue dog named Luci and that started our love of Weimaraner dogs. She was Eric’s pup and when Mel came along she just fell in love. We got another sweet girl named Evie – she is soooo wonderful with kids, protective and loving, and never, ever aggressive. Luci passed away and we got another rescue named Knox. He is a big, sweet, boy. Both of our dogs would like to have a friend in the house. Mel brought her hilarious kitty named Ed to the relationship. He cracks us up on a daily basis and loves attention. He’s very talkative and sassy.

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Our Families

Eric’s parents live in Arizona and Mel’s mom, brother and family live in Oregon. We have an adorable niece who is 2 years old and we love her so much. Brother is a funny guy and sister-in-law is amazing. She is a kindergarten teacher and is brilliant with small kids. We can’t wait to get to have family time with the WHOLE family!

We have many friends in the neighborhood, a large number who have kids of their own. There are a lot of small children and we can’t wait for your child to join in on the fun. It’s a very active group of friends we have. Sports and entertainment, and live music are very popular.

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Our Lifestyle

Our lifestyle is relaxed but active. Sounds silly. We spend a fair amount of time at home as we eat most meals together and cooking is one of our favorite things. Mel likes to be home to garden and do art projects, but Eric really likes to go out and interact with a crowd. It’s a mix. We both exercise and do martial arts on the side. So the eating and the exercise balance each other out. Our dogs and cat are very attached to us so we do love the days of lounging with the pups and kitty. We try to have one fun weekend day and one to get things done. We love to play board and card games and will continue to play in the future as it is entirely part of our lifestyle.

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Family Traditions

Traditions are a tricky topic. We both came from small families with very little in the way of tradition and we wish we had more. Our goal is to change that with simple traditions. One tradition we have not been able to maintain is our annual anniversary trip to Whistler, BC in early December. COVID stopped this over the last couple of years but we looking forward to this year’s trip! We should say perhaps that many of our traditions revolve around cooking and eating. Mel used to be a chef. She always makes fresh pasta lasagna on Thanksgiving. Then two days later we eat Croque Monsieurs. Grandma Jane (Mel’s mom) is an amazing baker so we have a pie making fest a few times a year. One of Mel’s favorite activities is baking with her mom. Jane and Melinda also make homemade jams every year!

We celebrate the usual holidays; Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, and May the 4th Be With You. It’s really just about getting together, eating and spending quality time together with the rest of our family. We are very excited about creating more of our own traditions – example: we always eat Italian food on Christmas.

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Racial and Cultural Diversity

While we are not always surrounded by diversity in our daily lives, we WILL do our part to learn what is needed to protect and teach your child how to be autonomous, proud and safe. This mama bear is very protective! We want to understand as much as possible about “where” your child comes from. We value all lives, and this will be the case with any child we get the pleasure of raising.

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Our Relationship with You

At a younger age Mel wanted 5 kids! Unfortunately we cannot physically have our own children. But it was a very easy decision for us to choose to adopt because we had already planned to do so from the beginning of our relationship 10 years ago. We can’t express our appreciation enough for the wonderful woman who will help make our dreams come true. All we’ve always wanted to do was have a family. We are open to having a healthy relationship with you. Your child is the most important part of the future, and a relationship with their birth mother hopefully will be an important part of this.

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What We will Teach your Child

We will teach your child love, respect, honesty, loyalty, and kindness. These are the most important things to us. While these are important, we also want them to be self-sufficient. It’s unfortunate when kids don’t learn how to value themselves as well as others. We will teach your child to be the strongest, most confident person they can become. This is something we had to learn ourselves as adults and we would like to start early with your child.

Education is another very important topic. We were both lucky enough to receive a good education and had the opportunity of college and more. Eric earned an additional degree after college and Mel has a culinary degree as well as a bachelor’s degree. Your little one will have the same options. We also realize that college isn’t always the answer for everyone and will be open to what they are drawn to do.

Our Careers

We have very different callings in life. Eric is very book smart and amazing at mathematics. He will be a wonderful tutor during homework time. Mel’s calling in life is to cook, care for others and be aware of their needs. It’s like a sixth sense. Mel will be a stay-at-home mama and this is very exciting. She also LOVES anything art, gardening, and the outdoors! We have discussed many times how our lives will be different with children in it. Eric is a morning person, chipper and giddy. Mel is a night owl who makes dinner and takes care of evening needs. We can’t wait to spend these precious daily hours with your wonderful little soul.

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Our Promise to You

Our promise to you is that we will LOVE your child like it is our own. We will embrace the traditions of your child’s heritage as well as our own. Your child will want for nothing including fun, meaningful, family traditions.