Dear Miguelito,
We met three years ago when you were only about ten months old. You were the first baby that my mom started taking care of when she opened her daycare and your mom was so nervous about leaving you there during the day but after talking with my parents for some time, she knew they were the perfect fit. Your parents were in the process of sorting some things out and organizing certain issues in their life so things were a little bumpy sometimes. Eventually things got too difficult to handle and the state wanted a foster home to take care of you while your mom dealt with certain things. Your mom hated the idea of you being in a foster home so she turned to my parents for help and decided that it would be better for you to live with my parents for a few months.
It was just supposed to be for a few months. But now, looking back, I’m so happy that a few months turned into three years. Miguel, you became a part of our family and regardless of where you are at any given time, you will always continue to be part of our family. You made all of us, Alicia(mom), Joe(dad), JR, Ketzia, Moe and myself laugh and love harder than we ever have…
I’m sitting in front of my computer screen trying to find the right words to tell you about the first three years of your life, but if you remember, I’m the emotional one, so my tears keep getting in the way. But they are happy tears, filled with beautiful memories of you… My mom, actually your mom too 
and I are working on putting together a keepsake box so you can look back when you’re older and remember the first few pages of your life, otherwise I’ll just keep writing and this blog post will turn into a book. We plan to fill the box with any little story and memory we can remember and of course, tons of pictures
My parents knew that you would eventually have to live in another home but none of us could picture our lives without you, especially mom. You two were best friends. You were her biggest little helper and I know that she will forever consider you her son. She read you a bedtime story from your favorite book, My Book of Bible Stories, every single night and she was the first person you would turn to every single morning. You would look so adorable in your little suit, tie and little “maletin” when it was time for meetings to learn about Jehovah. Singing was your favorite part so you always made sure you had your little song book with you. Simply adorable. And when it was time to work hard and relax, you knew Joe was the person to go to. You would spend hours watching and helping him in the garage “fixing” things and to wrap up the evening it was always milk, cookies and a good movie, your pick. I could go on and on…
The hard part was finding out you wouldn’t be returning to your parents, they were still having difficulty fixing some things in their lives. We had to accept that you would be placed for adoption and the weeks around that were incredibly hard. I’ll never forget the night your new parents came over to meet you for the very first time. I knew they would fall in love with you within seconds, but mom and I cried the whole evening because we knew the time for your to go was too close. Even though you didn’t fully understand what was going on, you spoke such brave and strong words… I go to a new house, but I come back mom. I always come back… You are amazing. I wish we could be as brave and strong as you Miguel.
Your new parents would come to visit a little longer each day, then you spent a few nights at their house and we thought it would get easier but it just seemed to get harder and harder for us, and we could see it was difficult for you sometimes but you kept your head up and a smile on our faces. Eventually the day came when mom had to pack your things, I can still see your little suit cases by the door. You refused to take all of your toys, I come back is what you calmly kept saying. You are amazing. Instead of the adults being the strong ones, you were the one comforting us. It’s been a little over three months since you’ve been gone. It seems like forever. Your new parents are wonderful people and we know that you are happy and well taken care of. That makes missing you a tiny bit easier to deal with. Mom gets to talk with you over the phone every once in a while and she still buys little souvenirs for you wherever she goes
During the last week you were with us, JR and I took some photos of you, mom and Joe, I hope you enjoy looking through them…I don’t think there is one photo of you guys not laughing. I love that you wanted to bring a little camera along, you used to love watching me take photos and you loved using my little camera. Maybe when you’re older, we can go shooting together
Miguel, I’m so proud of you, I love you so much and I miss you dearly.
Your sister,
Marissa R.
You definitely look great as a photographer
Dad(Joe) always places his hands on his waist when he is explaining or showing something, and I love that you were standing the same way when showing them the pictures you took…
Favorite.
I love you
Click here to see the slide show…you don’t want to miss this one
Dear blog readers,
Thank you for taking the time to read this super long post. This was incredibly difficult to do, I feel I poured so much of myself into these photos and I wouldn’t have had the guts to post them if those who read my blog weren’t so encouraging. I’ve been holding on to these photos for quite some time, like I said here and here, but I felt today I was a little more ready than normal. So thank you for being here -Marissa
Website~BLOG
email: info@marissarodriguez.com
by admin
no comments
add a comment link to this post email a friend