To the woman who gave life to my son,
It was 17 years ago today, in an obscure town in Russia, you brought a new life into this world. You named him Nicolai, which in Russia, is commonly nicknamed Kolya.
We will probably never know all of the reasons you had for giving Kolya up for adoption. But what I’m quite sure of is that it had to be one of the most difficult decisions you would make in this lifetime.
I want to thank you for making such a courageous decision. Because of your decision, our family has been blessed.
Kolya is a fine, young man that you would be mighty proud of. He’s a hard worker who loves any kind of manual labor. The harder and dirtier the work, the better. He loves to conquer a project that, to others, would be overwhelming.
Kolya is an entrepreneur. He’s had his own business washing and detailing cars since the age of 13. He often finds discarded items that he refurbishes and then sells on eBay. Just a couple of weeks ago, he made close to $200 shoveling driveways after a blizzard. He’s got a business mind and isn’t afraid of the hard work to build a successful business.
Kolya is very responsible. I’ve never had to remind him to do his homework. And his room is probably the neatest in the house. He thinks that organizing things is fun. It’s just a part of who he is.
Sure, we’ve had our share of character-building issues. That’s part of growing up. Kolya’s learned important lessons of honesty and integrity. He’s growing in wisdom each and every day.
Most importantly, Kolya is a young man of faith. He accepted Christ as his Savior several years ago and he’s growing his friendship with God. He wants, more than anything else, for you to know Christ, too. He asked me once, “Mom, if I don’t speak Russian anymore, how can I go back to Russia and tell my family and other people about Jesus?” I reassured him that if God called him back to Russia, He’d bring back the language he spoke for the first nine years of his life.
Seventeen years and eight months ago, you likely found out you were expecting. You could have made a different decision that would not have brought a new life into this world. But you didn’t. You made the courageous decision to love this child enough to give him life and then to give him the opportunity at a better life.
From one mother to another, I thank you for that decision.
You may or may not be thinking about that day seventeen years ago. But if you are, I just want you to know that he’s a great kid that I’m blessed to call my son.
With a grateful heart,
Jill
