Sherry Atkinson:  

Life I graduated from college in 1979. Three months later I married Scott Atkinson who had also just graduated. We dated at Carroll when he was a Senior and I was a Junior. We dated for 5 years, including college, and have been married for 26 years. We have 3 wonderful children of our own, and many babies, who pass through our home. The babies live with us anywhere from a few days to over 2 months. I used to teach 1st and then later 4th graders, in a Catholic school for several years, but then "retired" from teaching to go on to my next calling. God certainly guided me here. I volunteer for the "Gladney Center for Adoption". Scott and I are called Transitional Care Parents. We differ from Foster care parents in that we don't get paid anything for what we do, and we are not allowed to adopt the babies we care for. We just love babies! We only care for newborns. They are usually only a day or two old when we get them. Some of them are special needs babies, with health difficulties, or have suffered from drug exposure. One of our babies was a Down's Syndrome baby, who was on oxygen when she arrived. She had open heart surgery, while she was with us, so we had a lengthy hospital stay. She was such a little trooper! She was the sickest baby we have had so far, but one of the sweetest, and most patient. Luckily, most of the babies we care for are healthy. Sometimes I am a birth mother's coach, during her labor, and get to watch the babies that we care for being born. That is really neat! I council Birth Moms every ...Expand for more