WHAT WILL THE ‘BIG GUY’ DO?

What would the future hold for me? Could I be the first bachelor in the state of Indiana to adopt a son?

I had just returned to Fort Wayne, Indiana after a business trip. I went to work in the morning like it was a regular day. At noon I left for lunch and drove to Indianapolis, Indiana. I had an appointment with Mrs. Barnett, the caseworker at the Children’s Bureau of Indianapolis and Mr. Evan Parker the Director of the Children’s Guardian Orphanage. This would be the first time I would meet a boy that was available for a single male adoption. With a lot of luck, I could be the first bachelor to adopt a child in the state of Indiana.

As I was driving hundreds of thoughts crossed my mind. My mind was not on the road. I guess God was doing the driving for me; after all, He had to get me there safely if He wanted me to be part of His Master Plan.

I got there an hour early so I drove around to pass the time. I drove past the building. It did not impress me. I entered the building about 15 minutes before my appointment and asked for the director.

The caseworker from the Children’s Bureau and one of the staff members from the orphanage were already there. Introductions were made and we made small talk about my background and the orphan’s background. The director asked one of the staff members to check to see if the boy was back from school so he could be brought into the office.

They had only told the boy the day before that I was coming to visit him. Can you imagine what had to be going through this boy’s mind for the past 24 hours? He had been told many times, by his caseworker, that because he was an older child he was too old to be adopted.

The boy walked into the room and was introduced to me as Marshall Brown. He was four-feet, six-inches tall. His head only came up to my chest. He weighed about 90 pounds. He had blond hair that was cut short. His eyes were green-blue.

What did this orphan see? A man 31 years old, five-feet, eight-inches tall, 210 pounds and almost bald. I had a full brown beard and wore heavy black glasses.

The youngster was very shy and didn’t talk much. Mrs. Barnett, Marshall’s caseworker, did most of the talking. After we talked about why we were there, it was getting to be dinnertime. She asked me if I would like to take him out to dinner. She asked Marshall and he said he would like that very much. Before we left the building we scheduled a 10 a.m. meeting for the next day.

Marshall went to his room and changed into different clothes and we left the orphanage.

I asked Marshall “Is there any particular place you would like to go to eat?” What a stupid question that was for me to ask him! How would he know? Orphanages don’t take their children out to eat in restaurants.

Marshall said it didn’t matter to him. We drove down the main street and started to look for a restaurant. I saw what looked like a nice family restaurant where he could find something he would like to eat.


OUR FIRST DINNER

We spent most of the evening talking about who I was and my thoughts about adopting a child. I tried to get him to talk about himself and the activities he enjoyed. We talked about sports and other subjects. I had learned about his background so I did not ask questions about his past. I wanted to make him feel at ease talking to me.

Before I took him back into the building, I faced him as said,
“We will be having another meeting tomorrow morning with the caseworker and we can talk further.”


THE LONGEST NIGHT

For some unknown reason, I had decided to pack an overnight bag just as I was leaving Fort Wayne to go to Indianapolis. Could it have been that the ‘BIG GUY’ was trying to tell me something and I didn’t realize it? There was a Howard Johnson Motel near the orphanage, so I stayed there instead of driving back home.

I didn’t get much sleep that night. I was doing too much thinking. My brain was in overdrive. What if this? What if that? What if he? What if I? What if they? Hundreds of questions were going through my mind and the answers were coming up all different. It was like my mind was in the middle of a game of ‘Jeopardy’.

I was wondering what Marshall was thinking? What would he tell the other children at the orphanage? What would he say the next day at our meeting? I had been working on the process of an adoption for a year and a half. If I was getting in over my head, this was the time to make the decision to pull out and stop the process. The odds were against me for pulling this off. Being a pioneer in the area of single male adoptions, I wondered if I could I handle it by myself? What about Marshall’s thoughts? What would have to be done legally? What about public opinion? What about my family? What were the chances of me ever getting married with an adopted son? I had to make a lifelong commitment. I wondered if the ‘BIG GUY’ had taken me this far in His Master Plan, would He be with me the rest of the way if he thought it was the best thing for Marshall?