FAMILY FINDS THANKFULNESS
November National Adoption Month
Rodney and Melissa Golpe say they have no shortage of gratitude for the changes they’ve seen since they adopted their son, Jacobi.
The Royal Oak couple brought Jacobi, 6, into their lives and home in 2018.
“There’s a list of ways that we’re thankful for the gratitude and love we have encountered,” Rodney Golpe said, “not just through Jacobi but through our whole family. We have 14 nieces and nephews and he has fit right into the fold and enriched their lives as well.”
Golpe, 50, has two adult children from his first marriage. He acknowledges he had more concerns than his wife about the prospects of adopting a child when the process began.
“It’s something I’m still thankful for,” Melissa Golpe said. “We were unsure how our lives would change … I fell in love with Jacobi right away and every day is an adventure.”
The family is looking forward to enjoying Thanksgiving with their relatives, where their young son can play with many of his cousins.
Jacobi came into the couple’s lives out of foster care through the nonprofit Samaritas’ adoption program, Legacy Adoption Services.
November is National Adoption Month. There are now over 2,000 children waiting to be adopted from foster care statewide.
Rachel Sykes, executive director of Legacy Adoption Services, said in a statement that the organization recently celebrated its 10,000th adoption since it was founded back in 1977.
“We believe every child deserves a loving, life-long family,” Sykes said. “Family is so special. It’s the place where we experience love, safety and belonging.”
Being part of a family can help a child realize they are valued and gain the courage to explore the world around them to build a legacy of their own, Sykes added.
Melissa Golpe, 46, had earlier worked for Covenant House Michigan, a nonprofit headquartered in Detroit that provides homeless, runaway and at-risk youth with shelter, vocational and educational programs.
She worked with homeless teens and young adults.
“A lot of them had been in foster homes and never had a forever home,” she said. “Being there I sort of felt called to adopt a child.”
Rodney Golpe recalls talking about adoption with his wife after they have been together for about five years.
His wife had been a good caregiver
and mother to his two older children.
“I knew that I could trust her to make an adoption work for our family and for any child we were blessed to have in our home,” he said.
Rodney was more worried about the uncertainty over the age and foster home experience their adoptive child would have.
The couple worked with Samaritas’ adoption program for a couple years before they met Jacobi.
“It seemed he was supposed to be my child right
off the bat,” Melissa said.
For Rodney, his uncertainty melted away when Jacobi, then less than two years old, joined the family.
Because Jacobi is Black and the Golpes are white he has questions as he grows.
“He started asking about differences in his appearance and other kids, and why he has curly hair and his mom and I have straight hair,” Rodney said. “With a multi-racial adoption you can’t be color blind. You have to be aware of and celebrate the differences. There are blended families all over the world, it’s not just in adoptions.”
Jacobi knows that he’s adopted, had a birth
mother, a foster mom and now a forever mom.
Rodney said the boy has no hang ups about any of those things now, but can imagine Jacobi will have more questions as he grows into his teen years.
“We’ll be open to helping him explore his background any way we can,” he said.
For Melissa it’s important that their son sees himself in the world and that there is nothing wrong because he looks different than they do.
The Golpes pray with him.
“And one thing I always tell him is, ‘I’m so lucky to be your daddy,’” Rodney said.