A Brief update from Jenniffer, SCLB creator. (May 2020)

 To all our visitors:

First of all…hi! It’s been a few years, and since the site is up and running again ( more on that in a minute ), I figured I would give you all an update on our situation. As of my last writing, my son Joseph was only 3 , and I was scouring everywhere trying to find any kind of medical info I could, from allergies to diseases that run in his lineage. Things looked and felt a little bleak, and I had serious doubts about the future.

     Fast forward 5 years, and things couldn’t be more different. Joey is now about to turn 11, and is as healthy as can be. He was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum upon entering kindergarten, but he has not suffered in the slightest. He is fascinated with temperatures, measurement scales , and all things scientific, as well as learning words in as many languages as possible. He doesn’t seem to care about a lot of the typical things 11 year old boys tend to, but that’s just part of what makes him unique. He is happy, healthy, and growing faster than I can stand.

     We moved from Ohio down to sunny Florida in the summer of 2016, and I can tell you with no hesitation, trading in snow for beach sand was the best decision we have ever made. We actually get blue skies down here! Joey misses the cold, but doesn’t complain when he can ride his bike 365 days of the year. You can’t put a price on that.

     Shortly after we became former Ohioans, Trump was elected. Not by me or my husband mind you, as neither of us can stand the Cheetoh in Chief, but after 8  years of relative normalcy, it seemed like every leader we had abandoned all pretense of humanity and decided a free for all money grab was what we elected them to do. 3 years into his reign, and all it seemed all Trump was capable of doing was careening between lies while dismantling every safety precaution Obama ever put into place. All that would have been disastrous enough without a plague-like virus descending on the entire human populace, but, alas, here we are. And that kind of brings me to my point. Why did I bring the site back?

     It was not an easy decision, to be sure. It was a strain on my time, my family life, and a drain of resources, both personal and financial. But after being cooped up in a state of quarantine / enforced social distancing, I realized how much I craved a return to normalcy. To being able to go outdoors, to parks, to beaches. To have real human interaction beyond my kids asking what time I was making dinner. And, after speaking to some old friends who decided to help me with content and administrative duties, I decided to reopen the site. Because I know the kind of relative discomfort I and others may feel by being isolated is nothing compared to the upheaval my life went through when Joey was born, and his biological father promptly disappeared. I know that kind of hurt, and I take a little comfort in knowing that I can provide A) a little help, B) a place to tell your story and vent if needed, and C) a sense of community, so that people in my situation know that they are not alone. Keep in mind, I started the site originally because of  how close to home this issue hit, but that is not the case any more. Joey is in a loving home, with a proud adoptive father, loving older sister, and a mother who would give the world to see him happy. He will never want for anything, nor most likely ever have any need to question what happened to his father. There are lots of children out there, however , who will not be as lucky, and when the time comes, they will deserve answers. If I can help in any way to provide those answers, then I will rest happy. I want to help others that are where I was, because I know not everyone will be as lucky as me, so maybe I can pay a little of my luck forward. I look forward to tomorrow much more than ever before, and will be talking to you again soon.

Joseph Age 10