In a Heartbeat: The Miracle of a Family That Was Meant to Be

By Mikki M.A. Shepard

In A Heartbeat: The Miracle of a Family that was Meant to be is a delightful true story spanning several generations of families being born out of love, not necessarily biology. The heart of the story is about how the Law of Attraction brought about an adoption that created the "miracle of a family that was meant to be." This inspiring book shares a ‘good news' adoption story to help others realize what a loving choice it can be for the baby, birth parents and adoptive parents. It is the greatest gift of love a parent can give their child and the most awesome gift another parent can receive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781645447337

Book preview

Reflecting.

In 2015, I just finished speaking with my son who called to say happy Easter. He can’t be with us today because of work. So instead, we had a long visit by phone. After talking about his plans for today, school possibilities, and the fact that he’s thinking about buying a new car this year, I passed the phone to Carl so I could start our special breakfast.

While making eggs Benedict, I couldn’t help but remember another phone call received exactly twenty-five years ago today. It’s amazing how one call can change your life forever. After breakfast, I started preparing the foods I promised to bring for Easter dinner at Mom’s. The entire time, all that was in my mind were the wonderful memories and moments shared since that call so many years ago.

Tonight (April 24, 2018), I was speaking to my son. It’s his twenty-eighth birthday today. I love him more than the whole wide world and back again and so enjoy that we can always talk on the phone for a very long time.

During those twenty-eight years, I’ve come to realize that the story of how my son, husband, and I became a family really had its roots in my childhood. In fact, it was actually prior to that—long before I was born!

Tracing The Roots

For most of my childhood, I believed my mom and I were a team. The two of us against the world, sort of speak. My mom divorced my biological father when I was a baby and became a strong single mom and career woman.

We lived with my grandmother (Nana), and the two of them planned their working hours, so one was usually home. My mom remarried and had two more children before divorcing again. First time was based on being too young and the second time was to protect herself and her children from an alcoholic, abusive man. She always loved him, but her children came first.

At that point, it became the two of us with two babies! But it worked at the time. We lived in the Bronx and had lots of family around growing up.

For several years, we moved a lot. Mom’s second husband always wanted to get back together, and then my mom would decide he was dangerous, and we would move. This happened so many times that I believed that the moving company, Cavalucci & Sons, was part of our family. One time, in particular, I remember going to the movies with Bob Vought (Mom’s second husband) to see Sinbad the Sailor and Jason and the Argonauts (back when double features were common). While we were at the movies, Cavalucci came and packed us up to move so that when Bob brought me home, we could quickly leave. He apparently had adopted me and had visitation rights.

As time went on, the moves happened less often, but it did lead to my going to ten different primary schools. Since the first eight were all Catholic schools, we were constantly buying new uniforms!

I didn’t mind, but I became incredibly shy since we never lived anywhere long enough to make many friends. But I had my mom, Nana, and Aunt Edna.

Aunt Edna was Nana’s sister and very proper. I loved to visit her, and I could walk to her apartment from a couple of different places we lived.

She had, in my opinion, the best clothes. Very classic. She told me if you buy classic styles, you can wear them longer and just update with accessories. She liked to make lamb chops or peppered steak and always seemed to have green beans for me to snap. I always felt grown-up around her.

She would make grape juice and seltzer drinks for me, which seemed very special. There was usually Pepperidge Farm bread (that I now buy today) only at her apartment because it was more expensive. She would take me shopping for Easter outfits and preferred to shop at B. Altman’s or Bloomingdale’s.

Aunt Edna stayed in contact with relatives that no one else seemed to know.

There was a cousin who lived in Springfield, Pennsylvania, and had a beach house in Beach Haven on Long Beach Island in New Jersey. We visited for a week or so each summer. I got to tag along with the cousin’s daughter and her boyfriend in the evenings. They took me to play miniature golf, play in the arcade, eat pizza, and Italian ice, and listen to music. They eventually married, and Aunt Edna took me on a train to attend the wedding in Philadelphia. I sent Christmas cards to the cousin and daughter for many years.

Aunt Edna liked to use linen napkins, her silver, china, and crystal. Probably why I do too. It always seemed very classy to me. She left the silver to me in her will.

She had the world’s tiniest Christmas tree. It was artificial, about ten to twelve inches tall with a star and about six lights. It suited her, and she displayed it proudly in her living room each year.

Aunt Edna and her husband, Uncle Tommy (when he was alive), were a major part of my mom’s childhood. The influence shows in my mom’s own properness and how she dresses. She was the child they never had. Mom, like Aunt Edna, always brings something for the host/hostess