Building a Family Through Adoption
I lived in three continents before the age of 5, and spent my childhood playing with kids of all different backgrounds. As a kid, when I thought about having children of my own one day, I pictured a family akin to the Jolie-Pitt clan. I loved the idea of having a home with a boundless backyard and all my kids running around playing with our St. Bernards. They'd be a diverse mix of adopted, biological, and fostered children, and we'd all go on grand adventures together and be one big, happy family.
As I've grown older and started to think about kids more seriously, my mental picture has become slightly more pragmatic: six kids is way too many for me, three feels more doable. I'd still love for them to be a mix of adopted and biological, but what is the adoption process actually like? How would I go about raising a family with both adopted and biological children?
Those are some of the questions on my mind, and ones I am eager to discuss at our next Grand Session with our Grand Guides, John and Gigi. John and Gigi are the parents of three beautiful children, and are both badasses professionally: John is the Head of Legal at Nextdoor and Gigi is an Executive Director at J.P Morgan. They had two biological children first, and as the kids became preteens, their family made the decision to adopt internationally. Now, eight years later, John and Gigi are excited to join us for a conversation and share their story of building their family. They'll talk about how they made the decision to adopt, navigated an international adoption, and built a wonderful family with both adopted and biological children.
Upcoming Sessions
๐ธ How to Talk About Money With Your Partner 10/28 - Our Grand Guides, and husband-wife duo, Aditi Shekar and Dalmar Hussein will share how they've approached talking about money throughout their relationship, from the early days of dating to moving in together, adopting two dogs, getting married, and buying a house. Individuals and couples at any stage of a relationship are welcome to join us.
๐ผ Reinventing Your Professional Self โ Career Shifts Later in Life 11/12 - Grand Guide Caroline Anzur, has made a number of career transitions in her 30s and 60s, and knows first-hand that there are always more possibilities for each of us. If you too have been thinking about making career shifts, join us for this session.
Grand Insights
Living a meaningful life is consistently one of the most popular topics you're all curious about at The Grand. As we reviewed your comments, a particular question stood out:
Am I living a life I would be proud of?
There are only 69 days left in this decade. Your commitment to intentional living inspires a period of reflection on how we hope to seek meaning in the next one, and we wanted to pass along a few questions to consider during the last months of 2019.
What does your most fulfilling life look like in the next decade? What specific things would make it special?
What relationships bring you the greatest sense of fulfillment? How might you deepen them in the coming years?
When do you feel most alive? How might you prioritize creating more of those moments?
What have you always wanted to do or experience? How would it feel if you took the leap to try it?
We are similarly reflecting on these questions, and would love to hear which you're asking and answering too. Let us know by replying to this email.
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Rei