What it means to be a parent is something we gleaned from our parents. Roman's parents divorced when he was a child. His mom, at the age of 16, gave him up to her in-laws so that he could have a stable environment. She didn't have much but always made time to see him as much as she could.

Being a parent means doing things with your child and being being a part of the fun together. Roman always talks about how his dad used to play football with him and his sisters. Later, when he was in college, his dad would play with him and his friends. He is hopeful that he will play sports with his kid, some day.

Lina's parents sacrificed their lives in Lebanon to move them here. Acclimating to a new country is a challenge. Her dad kept his job abroad and travelled back/forth for as long as he could. This left her mom alone to raise 3 girls, by herself, working 3-4 jobs and taking care of house chores (lawn mowing, tarring the driveway, shoveling/snow blowing the driveway). All in all, they gave their all so that we could have better opportunities under a stable government, etc.

Parenthood is about sacrifice and doing whatever it takes to love your children. Being there for them no matter what the situation.

Our passions.... where do we start? We have many passions. We want to have a child so that we can share our passions with them, and learn about theirs as they develop.

Together, we enjoy sports. That's the way we met - through tennis. But, all in all we love nature and in doing so we go on many hikes.

Roman is currently really into soccer. He's captain of a recreational soccer team that plays every weekend. Also, over the years he's been planting vegetables and figuring out how to improve the process every year. Roman has also gotten into woodworking. In fact, he merged the two hobbies. He built a contraption that encases the seedlings, via a hydroponics system. It's very cool.

Lina is into gardening, also. But, it is the flowers. She focuses on the floral aspect of the garden to make it beautiful. Lina's gotten into sewing, over the years. Once in a while, she mends Roman's soccer nets, his socks (yarning), etc. She also enjoys cooking and baking. Her all time favorite thing to do, weather permitting, is go bike riding.

Family vacations have always been a special time for us. Vacations are meant for the both of us to spend time together, to have an adventure and to immerse ourselves into a different culture. Living in different parts of the world as a child, Lina has influenced us to travel to different parts of the world. The most memorable family vacations for us were vacations to Austria, Lebanon, Tahiti, Singapore and Hong Kong. Each vacation was unique in culture, food, people, and architecture. And best of all was the quality time together.

Roman's favorite vacation was the last one we took (2019) to Lebanon. We took a pit-stop in London, for a few days - both on the way there and on the way back. We enjoyed being in the city, and Roman even got to visit with his colleagues. After that, we went to Lebanon. Our visit in Lebanon was about a week. During this time, we visited some tourist locations, and visited with Lina's family members. We were fortunate enough to see Lina's uncle, the last of her dad's siblings to be alive. Everyone was so welcoming and loving. Not only is the country beautiful, but its people make it even more memorable. You feel their heart.

Illinois - We live in a community that's an hour away from Chicago. The neighborhood is quaint and filled with diversity. As a child, Lina lived in the area when it was just corn fields. Now, it's more densely populated and diverse than one imagined all those years ago.

We've worked on our home, including repainting our shutters, last year. By "we", we mean Roman. He got on the ladder and repaired the existing shutters as they were falling off. The new coat of paint made it look brighter. Lina was always there to support by holding the ladder.

Our home is a 2-story home with a walk- out basement, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a 3 car garage. The neighborhood children always ride their bikes down our driveway as it is one of the steepest ones in the neighborhood.

As you walk up to the front door, you'll come across a row of yellow day lilies. Next to them are a few red Asian poppies. They are like the ones in Georgia O'Keefe's famous drawing. Lina tends to the flowers and plants lantanas every year, next to the roses. Roman has a vast vegetable garden in the back. He grows tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, string beans, and various herbs and spices. We can't wait to have a child to raise in our home that we love so much.

Roman was the only child from his mom and dad. Both parents happily remarried and blessed the extended family with (3 sisters and 1 brother) on his dad's side and 1 brother on his mom's side. We all remain close knit despite being spread across the country. Roman's sisters each have children of their own, a total of 10 nieces and nephews. Lina is the youngest of 3 girls. The eldest sister is an officer in the Navy and has served the country of over 25 years. She and her husband have two children - a girl and a boy. The middle sister is a PHD graduate, dedicating her life to education and teaching.

Our family tradition every year is splitting time with family during the holidays. If we spend Thanksgiving with Lina's sister in Maryland, then it is Christmas with Roman's Mom and Dad's families in Chicago. We would typically switch things up the following year to keep it interesting. Spontaneity is what makes our family unique. The fun of just jumping in a car (with our dog) and taking a road trip without any planning. Every trip is considered an adventure, full of twist and turns on a new route or even running into an unexpected attraction along with way. Even after our adoption plans, what is most important for us is to stay connected. We make it a point to spend quality time with the people we love and who matter most in our lives.

For you to be sitting here, reading one "Dear Birthmother" letter after another, takes a lot of strength and courage. So many emotions, so many choices...when does it end? This is only the prelude to a a new beginning. What lead you to this decision? it does not matter, because whatever the circumstances are, we have the greatest respect for you in knowing that you are giving the most precious gift of life (your baby) an opportunity to embark on life's journey.

In life, there are many twists and turns, ups and downs, but it all seems smoother when someone who loves and cares for you is right there with you. It's a sense of family and a stable environment, set around a loving home. Though family life is never perfect, knowing that someone will be there for you unconditionally, that is what matters. It is hard to offer you a sense of who we are in a few paragraphs, but know that this letter gives you our perspective on life.

We are Roman and Lina, not your typical couple. We come from two very different backgrounds but with the same Christian morals and zest for life. When we first met, we've always dreamed about being blessed with a big family, growing old together and enjoying grandchildren. That day hasn't come for us yet. Heartbroken, we have gone through all the emotions you can imagine. The forever optimists, we are still building for the future, one that welcomes an adopted baby and birthmother to our living family.

Childhood friends, we both grew up in a small neighborhood in our city. We had the same circle of friends, but different high schools. One day, a mutual friend invited Lina over to the local McDonald's where Roman, a shift manager at the time, gave them free sundaes.

Throughout high school it was this same circle of friends that would get together to play tennis, and hang out at one friend's home. Through college, it continued to be tennis, hanging out, playing cards, and going out a few times. Who would have thought it was going to be the start of something wonderful.

One day, Roman finally mustered up the nerve and energy to ask Lina out on an official date. To be exact, he asked her why it was that she never hung out with the group after the tennis season was over. Feeling guilt ridden, she went out on a date. The rest you can say is history as we are great complements to one another from the beginning.

You may be wondering what led to our decision to adopt. We wouldn’t be complete as a family without having a child and sharing our lives with a child. We almost gave up on the idea of having a family after many failed attempts. We thought we could carry on without, but as we proceeded on with our lives we recognized that having a child would make us feel complete. We so want to share a part of us with the next generation.

If you get to know us, you'll find that we live life to the fullest, but most importantly we strive to be good people. We are adventurous as we love to travel and immerse ourselves in different cultures. We approach anything in life with an open mind but with a sense of responsibility. We both came from humble, hardworking families and believe that in order to accomplish anything in life - it takes work, passion and commitment. We are realists and believe dreams do come true with the right attitude. That is how we've been living our life's journey and this is how we plan to influence our adopted child one day.

Roman & Lina