Donna Godfrey:  

Well, I've been living in Seattle, Wa for the past almost 40 years, married & adopted a daughter from Romania. After the adoption, discovered that she is developmentally disabled and had other emotional and mental health challenges, plus a significant hearing loss and language disorders, too!! Marriage fell apart, husband couldn't handle having a child with special needs, so we are divorced after 25 years of marriage, as of 2009. Career wise, since the adoption I've been a full-time Mom with many demands and challenges to deal with on a daily basis. The time it took to fight with the School District for the supports Emma needed just "TO DO SCHOOL"; to fighting for an appropriate placement that was out of the District: a small, private school in the area, that was a blessing and a God Send, but then had to fight every year to maintain the placement. This has been the most challenging job I've ever had. Let's step back to just after graduation 1972....I left for Cape Cod with the family I was a Mother's Helper, for 2 weeks. My summer was spent working with this family. I went off to college in the fall: Wells College in Aurora, NY. I graduated in 1976 with a BA: Italian Studies, minors in Sociology and Chinese. During my four years at Wells I spent my Junior Year abroad in Perugia, Italy (yes the same italian town that has been in the news). It was shocking at first to hear of what happened there but in some ways it took me back in time to a place I knew, loved, felt safe and comfortable in. After graduating from Wells, I worked a number of jobs before going back to school at Seton Hall to work on a MA: Asian Studies-Chinese. I did not finish the degree since my thesis topic lacked primary resources in the USA. So, instead I packed up my car and drove west ending up in Seattle. That was September 1980. Two weeks after arriving I had found a job and two weeks later an apartment, as they say the rest is history. I met my husband (now EX) at church and we were married Dec. 3, 1983; we separated June 11, 2003...the divorce was finalized August 10, 2009: 25 years, 8 months and one week after it all began!! As I've said most of my time in Seattle has been caring for, raising and advocating for my daughter. The adoption from Romania was supposed to be smooth and easy, but that had snags too due to the US Immigration Services. I left here thinking I'd be gone 4 weeks and was gone 12...what a journey that was. When our visas applications to bring our newly adopted children home were denied by the consulate, we had no choice but to wait ti out and to fight from abroad!! We protested outside the US Embassy when they wouldn't let us in, CNN caught wind of it and videotaped us. It was on the news all overthe country and we were also filmed by a person who worked for the ABC affiliate in Alabama, so it was satellite fed to Seattle. When we finally got our papers to come home, I was met at the airport with two news crews, cameras and nearly 50 people: OVERWHELMING!! The upside is that I made some wonderful friends, who also have adopted Romanian children, and we are a close knit bunch who have supported and maintained connections with each other all these years. The challenges of learning, managing and utilizing the "SYSTEM" for services and supports is not easy and in the end it's a CRISIS DRIVEN SYSTEM!! I have been somewhat fortunate to have found services for Emma through networking in the Special Needs community, teachers and doctors. There is no education in the REAL WORLD to prepare or educate you for this job. It's also a job that is not glorious, does not come with perks/time off/vacations or paid holidays....but it is the most rewarding in terms of the v...Expand for more