The Beginning of Our Journey

Abby and Hope moving into their first house on Mill Street in St Helens.

This picture was taken 15 and a half years ago when the adventure of Crazyville first began. A young, unmarried adult, I moved to St Helens so I could be in Columbia County. This was important because I had met the beautiful girl I'm holding in my arms, and in order to be her foster mom, I needed to live in the same county she did. It's incredible to look back and realize so many things about my life now exist because I moved here to be her mom. There was an instant connection when we met. I can tell you, it's not always like that, but it was for us. She was the first person to make me a mom. I plunged head first into the deep end of foster care and adoption. And the journey has been one crazy ride.

Abby

~Hi, Matt here.
I have had the pleasure of knowing Abby for some time now. She is the most selfless person ever and I love being married to her. That being said, taking on Hope as a young single person was one of the most crazy things she has ever done. At the same time, it made me love her more. We were dating at this point in our story and she was more committed to Hope than to me ;-) While she was going through this process with Hope, I did my best to support her. We did have a conversation at one point where she asked me if I was up for this adventure. She told me later that if I had said no, she would have dumped me and kept Hope. Good thing I said yes....

~Matt~