When Dale Marshall woke up on December 13 – yes, Friday the 13th — he was the father of eight kids. Before the day was over, he and his wife were the lucky parents of 10.
Merry Christmas, Dale.
Marshall, his wife and children were among 13 families who took part in the annual Home for the Holidays mass adoption event hosted by Circuit Judge Stacy Yeomans at the Marion County Courthouse.
Home for the Holidays was started in the 1990s by former Circuit Judge Sue Robbins and over the years has become an annual feel-good holiday happening that draws a packed courtroom that goes beyond the families and their children.
Besides the adopting parents, the adopted children and in many cases their new siblings, there are families, friends and a host of dignitaries that range from judges to mayors to state senators.
Oh, and there is always one extra special person in attendance, Santa Claus.
In fact, it is Santa who hands the children and their new parents a certificate formalizing the adoptions.
There are few events in Ocala that can compare to the joy that envelops Home for the Holidays. After all, it’s not only a joyful event at a joyful time of year, but it’s a moment that will change the lives of the newly adopted and their families forever. That’s why the folks at Kids Central Inc., which arranged and oversaw the adoption process of these 13 families, call these “forever homes.”
After the formal proceedings in the courtroom, the families and their new additions retired to a nearby jury room where the Kids Central staff had organized a holiday party, complete with cookies, gifts and more time with Santa.
Yeomans, who understandably allowed courtroom decorum to slide a little during the formal legal proceedings, attended the festivities and said she took over the event because it fell within her jurisdictional purview, but the beaming smile on her face showed that it was also a labor of love.
“This is just so wonderful,” she said.
Yes, it is, Judge.
Jose Pichardo was among the new adoptive parents. He flashed an unyielding smile throughout the ceremony as he and his wife added 2-year-old Ariel to their family that already had six children.
“We just couldn’t say no,” he told me as he chased young Ariel around the party.
Kids Central Inc, the private-public partnership that oversees child welfare, including adoptions, in Marion County, not only ushered the parents through the adoption process, but put on the after party.
KCI CEO John Cooper said that it is one of his staff’s favorite events of the year.
He also noted, while KCI arranged nearly 200 adoptions last year, these are special because it allows his agency and the families to share this special moment with the whole community.
“These families didn’t have to finalize their adoptions at this event, they chose to,” he said.
And thank goodness they did … and do year after year.
As an adopted child, I can assure you that what happened to the 13 families and 18 children at Home for the Holidays will change those children’s lives — and their families’, too – forever, in a wonderful and lasting way. The Pichardos know it. That’s why the whole family wore t-shirts reading “Forever Family Day” across their chests.
