The full story of Laura, Brian and Maylee
Joy is a short by powerful word, which means complete happiness, jubilation, of the entire soul. Joy is experienced when a person achieves selflessness to the point of personal sacrifice. We (Laura and Brian) learned of our true Joy on April 5th, 2019.
The story of us had its beginning when we (Brian & Laura) were kids. We were high school sweethearts. After getting married, we spoke of children and loved nieces and nephews, but there was such a big world out there to explore and having children became maybe someday, maybe not. And explore we did for nearly 21 years.
A few years back and with a multitude of life experiences, we made the collective decision that we had a lot to share and chose adoption to grow our family of 2 to 3. We were excited, and somewhat terrified, to venture into the world of parenthood! Our loving families had some questions, but gave us their full support. We started researching adoption and realized there were many agencies/options. Again, we were terrified! We began talking to friends and found that there were so many connections to adoptions. There was also a common thread, Wyoming Children’s Society. We started by speaking with Kristi, our social worker who instantly gained our trust, both in her and the process. With fewer adoptions, we were unsure how long we would wait, but fully believed that what was meant to be, would be. Life continued on.
We would compare the waiting to a couple who was trying or pregnant and say, “If we were pregnant, we would be 4 months.” Well, it took 24 months (would not wish a 24 month pregnancy on anyone!) and we received “The Call”. The words that we were waiting for, but not prepared for in the least. The emotional rollercoaster was just going into the looptyloop.
Little did we know, but a baby was born in Cheyenne 2 days prior on April 3. Mommy Gabby (biological Mom) had contacted Wyoming Children’s Society and bravely chose adoption for her baby girl on April 5. After about 4 minutes of getting the rundown from Kristi on “The Call”, Laura asked, “Is it a boy or a girl?” It didn’t matter, but we wanted to be able to start picturing this baby in our lives. Brian was at a fire department training in Texas and Laura was in Jackson. Logistics of traveling across the state (7 hours away) and changing flights came together.
We were asked what her name would be and we had talked about the name derived from Laura’s maiden name, but had not discussed the spelling. Who knew all the ways to spell the sweetest name that we had ever heard. We both came to the same conclusion, Maylee.
After just 20 hours, with every emotion imaginable, we had made it to Cheyenne. If you promise not to tell, we Goggled directions to the hospital. We pull up to the hospital to find out that it was the VA. No babies at the VA. Opps, let’s try this again. Next stop, yes a wrong one, the west campus of Cheyenne Regional. Again, no babies. Finally, we were in the right direction. We met Kristi and prepared ourselves to meet Maylee.
Words could not describe how it felt to hold our precious little Maylee for the first time…Amazing, fabulous, incredible, all fall short. A perfect Angel, sent from above. A miracle to know that she was ours to love, cherish and to help guide through life. Mommy Gabby asked that we keep the name Freya, as this was a name that she had wished for a baby girl since she was 8 years old. Maylee would also have a name passed on from her Grandma Coe, Laree. Maylee Laree Freya Coe, now had a Gotcha Day, April 6, 2019. Maylee has been the perfect addition. Did we mention she is perfect? Yes, we may be biased, but that is our prerogative. We have learned a few things since her arrival. There is only one schedule, Maylee’s. The smiles, giggles and signs of affection from Maylee melt our hearts daily. Most importantly, she has taught us unconditional love. Maylee has enriched our lives and we only hope that we can return the favor by providing a loving home that will allow her to climb to the mountain tops, both figuratively and literally. We Love You to The Moon & Back Maylee, and look forward to a lifetime of memories!