Dear Birthmother,

Thank you for taking the time to read our letter and permitting us to open our hearts to you. We realize that we cannot fully understand how difficult a decision this is, but we truly admire your courage and selfless love in carefully choosing a family and future for your child. We are hopeful that this letter will show that if we are blessed with the opportunity of parenting your child, it will be with love and affection in a warm and caring home.

About us…
We are Eamonn and Toni, and we have been joyfully married for nearly ten years. Toni and I met through mutual friends. On our first date, we went out for dinner with several other couples. Our meals were served, but we were lost in conversation and getting to know each other, and our food got cold, but neither of us noticed or really even cared. Later that night, I told my best friend, “I’m going to marry that woman.” I just knew it in my heart right away. We were married 15 months later.

We live in a beautiful home in a quiet, established neighborhood close to the beach in southern California. We love our neighborhood with all of its mature tree-lined streets, friendly neighbors, and lots of children playing all up and down the block. We have a child-safe pool, and plenty of room to play in a fenced-in yard. Our house is large and has lots of rooms, but our favorite places are the family room, patio, and pool.

We have two beautiful dogs that we love and care for. We raised our male dog, Yeager from a puppy. He’s the one who knows how to get an extra cookie by giving us that pitiful puppy look. Six months after we got Yeager, we adopted “JJ”, our female dog. She’s a sweetheart, but she’s a never-ending ball of energy. You can’t keep the two of them apart. Yeager loves to sneak up on JJ and pounce on her, and then the two of them play and play until they’re completely tired out. Then they curl up together like one great big dog and go to sleep. They are really good dogs, but maybe just a little spoiled.

We enjoy spending time together, we value down time, and staying healthy and active is really important to us. We love to get up early and go for a bike ride down to the beach for breakfast, or take the dogs down to play in the surf at Dog Beach. We enjoy camping and day trips to the mountains to play in the snow with our friends and their kids, or trips out to the desert to go exploring and hiking.

During the summer, we like to spend time at the beach, or sailing on the ocean. Most of our vacations involve trips to visit family in Chicago, New Jersey, Washington, D.C. San Francisco, Tucson, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Ireland, and England. We do like to travel to other parts of the world, and there’s still so much to see. We hope our next vacation photos include our baby, no matter where we go. Even if it’s just in our backyard.

About Eamonn…
Eamonn is a very loving, patient, and caring person. He is dependable, thoughtful, and has an amazing sense of humor. He’s also a big kid at heart. Our 13 year old nephew, Corey really looks up to Eamonn. Corey’s father left when Corey was just a baby. Now Eamonn takes Corey everywhere. Eamonn took Corey on his first fishing trip, first camping trip, first trip to the snow, and lots of other firsts. We often travel with Corey to give him some of the opportunities he would otherwise miss in life. We’ve traveled to Oregon, Ireland, Chicago, and all over California and Nevada with him. Eamonn and Corey are always heading out for another camping trip, or trip to the desert to launch model rockets, or off to one of Corey’s hockey games.

Eamonn has a true love for the outdoors, and I love that about him. His family went on camping trips every summer when he was a kid, traveling all over the United States. In 1976, his family traveled from Chicago to San Francisco, towing a camper across the United States. That’s when he fell in love with California and its beautiful parks and open spaces. On that trip, at the age of 12, he decided that he wanted to live in California one day. Lucky for me, he fulfilled that dream after graduating from college, and moved to California for his first job with a real estate company.

Eamonn enjoys playing piano, and likes to entertain the whole family, especially at Christmas by playing Christmas carols for sing-alongs. His real passion is photography. He takes the most beautiful photographs. Many of his photos of family, friends, and landscapes are displayed prominently in our home. He takes lots of pictures at family gatherings, and has somewhat become the family historian. The whole family counts on him to capture the moment.

Eamonn is quite the athlete, too. He raced bicycles in college, and continues riding today. Each summer, he rides his bike over 500 miles all the way across the state of Iowa. I love to meet up with his Mom and Dad each year in Chicago, drive out to Iowa with them, and meet him at the finish line. I do my part in helping him train by going on long bike rides along the flood channels and at the beach on our tandem bicycle. It’s so much fun, because we are always together on one bike, and he has to do most of the work. I just have to peddle and trust him to keep us safely on the path.

Eamonn loves kids. He’s great with them. All of our nieces and nephews do their best to get his attention, and show off to him. At every family gathering, the kids are calling out, “Eamonn, Eamonn, watch me.” Or, “Uncle Eamonn, come play with us”. He never turns them down. I think he gets that from the neighborhood he grew up in, and the big family he was raised in. He has a baby sister eight years younger than him that he took under his wing. She was just a baby when he was a kid, and they have a really special bond to this day. He always looked out for her, and she adores him. She does the Iowa bike ride with him every year. Eamonn is also close friends with his former boss. We were honored when they asked us to be Godparents to their two daughters. Both girls love us, but they especially like Eamonn. He has that effect on kids.

About Toni…
Toni is a beautiful person, both inside and out. She has a great sense of humor, and laughs easily. Her warm personality makes it easy for her to make friends. She has many friends from grade school, high school, from her studies abroad, and from the work place. She is caring and dependable. She cares deeply for her family, and makes sure every one is taken care of. She is really good with kids. All of our nephews and nieces love Auntie Toni. They are drawn to her and want to stay close to her. She will make a wonderful mother.

Toni graduated from college with degrees in psychology and political science, and then went on to earn a masters degree in business. She began a career in Commercial Real Estate, and has stayed on that path to this day. She realizes the importance of helping to provide for a family, but acknowledges the more important aspect of being there for the family. She will balance the two perfectly. Together, we will make sure our child has our full attention. That’s what’s important.

Toni is very compassionate and caring, and spends a lot of time volunteering. She is actively involved in the running and funding of a center for battered women and their children and our church. She counsels women in locating a job, interviewing, and setting up and maintaining a bank account. She finds it extremely rewarding to help women get back on their feet so that they can build an independent life together with their children. With a degree in Psychology, she is not just a wonderful counselor but a great listener.

Toni enjoys reading, cooking, running, cycling, swimming and sailing. You can see why we get along so well. She gets up early to workout, run, or swim before heading to the office. She enjoys it so much that we have a room in our home with a treadmill, stairmaster, and life cycle. Although she does not classify herself as a morning person, she says working out early in the morning helps make her into one. She enjoys a good book, and reads as much as possible. In fact, she loves books so much that she even listens to audio books during her commute. Toni is a great cook, and has come a long way from when we got married. She loves entertaining as much for the gathering as for the excuse to recreate a food network recipe.

Our Families…
Eamonn grew up in a large family of seven in a small town north of Chicago. He has 2 brothers and two sisters and they’re all wonderful people. His Mom and Dad treat me like their own daughter, and I realize I am so lucky to be part of his big family. Eamonn’s parents were Irish immigrants, and they worked hard to make sure all the kids got a good education. He and his brothers caddied at a golf course during summer vacations from school to earn money for college. He was fortunate to also get a college scholarship through caddying. His studies and good grades, along with his caddying experience qualified him for a full college scholarship. He moved to California after graduating from college to work for a real estate company in Los Angeles.

Toni is one of two kids, but she is still from a large family. She has one younger sister, the mother of our nephew, Corey. She grew up only a few miles from her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Her parents are loving and caring, and have instilled in her a strong sense of love and family. Toni’s Mom is one of the most loving, caring people I’ve ever met. She is way beyond a Kool-Aid mom. Her Dad is a great guy, too. We can count on him to help us with repairs and home improvements that are beyond our abilities. He is so patient and knowledgeable, and has given us lots of hands-on help, and great investment advice. They would both be so happy to have another grandchild to adore. She is very close to all her family and tells stories of her childhood, spending time with her maternal grandmother, playing croquet or badminton in her backyard, picking grapes & flowers, and swinging lazily on the swing chair with her grandmother.

Family means a lot to both of us, so we are very close to our families. Since Toni’s immediate family lives just a few blocks away from our home, our family gatherings at Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, family Barbecues, and pool parties usually means lots and lots of food, fun and laughs. At most family gatherings, we host anywhere from 15 to 35 family members in our home. We have lots of mini family reunions, all throughout the year. My parents come to visit every Christmas, and my brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews come to visit us often, too. Our families are thrilled about welcoming a new baby, and they are as delighted as we are at the possibility of a new family member. Our Christian faith and spending time with our church community are a significant part of our lives and offer an assortment of activities and friendship.

Thank you…
We have tried for many years to have a baby. For reasons we don’t understand, God didn’t give us a baby of our own. We know in our hearts, he wants us to share our love with a child, and that is why we have chosen to adopt. We will love your baby as our own and provide a loving, caring, stable environment to grow up in. Education will be a high priority, but the highest priority will be a life of love, laughter, and lots of fun, happiness and lasting memories.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about us, and we are honored to share our lives, loves, and family with you. We will gladly answer any of your questions in order for you to learn as much about us as possible.

God bless you,

Eamonn and Toni

If you would like to learn more about us or to arrange an initial phone call please call Cindy (anytime) at A Act of Caring (800) 556-5635.

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