by Kevin Meyers, Kunkel & Associates and YP President

November 20 is National Adoption Day. What does this mean to you, to me, to anyone? As I sit here gathering my thoughts about what National Adoption Day means to my wife, Stephanie, and me, it also happens to be my son Gage's "Gotcha Day."

The 2021 Annual Dubuque Young Professionals Symposium had the underlining message of being positive and taking care of yourself and others. I connected to this overall message immediately, and it helped as I put pen to paper, well, hands to keyboard, writing about our adoption story. I could go on for pages about the meaning of today, the importance of "Gotcha Day," and so much more, but I will keep this short and sweet.

Not long after getting married, my wife, Stephanie, and I wanted nothing more than to grow our family and share the love we have to give with children. Unfortunately, we could not do so biologically, but what a blessing in disguise that turned out to be! We had a lot of nights we sat around talking, solving the world's problems, being sad and upset that things weren't working out for us. But it wasn't long until we took action to put us on the path that we knew was meant for us, the path of parenthood.

Steph and I explored the adoption route and were extremely fortunate to be blessed very quickly. It was only about six weeks after we were "approved" to adopt that we matched with our birth mom, Heather. Six months later, we found ourselves driving to Florida, a month into the pandemic, to meet our son Gage.

Not even a year later, we got a call from the adoption agency here in town. The adoption agency told us, "I know this is early and not part of your plan, but I have a birth mom I think you'd be a great match with."

Without even a second thought, we said, "yes, let's do it." About six months later, we were blessed again with our son Will.

We have both forever changed as a couple and as individuals in large part because of the experiences that led us to be the parents of two amazing boys. I have learned that all the clichés of being a parent are true. I have learned that no hurdle is too big to get over. I have confirmed that we make plans, and God laughs.

The amount of love and support we've been shown is exponential. I cannot express enough the thanks I have for everyone who showed up for us through our journey. Whether it was the driveway beers the day before we left for Florida or the prayers we got from the random aunt or older woman at church that I'll probably never meet, I can't thank everyone enough.

For my wife and me, adoption has been one of the best things to happen to us. We both hope that in some small way, our story can help anyone who is struggling to remember that there is always another way, and though sometimes it may be difficult, keep your head high and stay positive, and your life could change for the better in a moment.