‘The lucky ones’

The following article was published on Monday, June 22nd on Brewtonstandard.com.  It tells the story of a young woman adopted from India in 1991, and all that she has accomplished since coming home to her family.

by Lydia Grimes, Feature reporter Brewtonstandard.com

Father’s Day is an important day in any father’s life. Mike Perry is doubly blessed, having both a son and a daughter.   Perry, who is a local attorney, and his wife, Tammy, who is a retired school teacher, have a son, James, and a daughter, Melissa. In 1990 their son was several years old and the Perrys wanted to complete their family with a daughter. Because of some medical problems, they decided to check into adoption as a way to get the daughter they both wanted.

“I had a couple of little girls in my class at school that had been adopted and they were just the cutest little girls,” said Tammy Perry. “We started to talk about going to an overseas adoption agency and settled on Holt International in Eugene, Oregon, which is one of the leading agencies handling adoptions from foreign countries.”

They had decided to adopt a child from India. Adoption sometimes can take a long time and that was the case with the Perrys. They were given the number 36 and had to wait until it counted down to number one. Melissa was born in 1990 and it just so happened that the countdown to number one was Melissa.

“I sometimes think about how close we came to getting another child instead of Melissa,” said Tammy. “Thank goodness, we were lucky that it worked out the way that it did.”

The Perrys got the word that their child was going to arrive early in 1992, but instead she came a little bit early. They were supposed to travel to Chicago to meet their little girl, but again they were lucky enough to have a volunteer escort Melissa to Birmingham on Dec. 20, 1991.

“She was some Christmas present,” said Mike Perry. “When we first saw her, she was bundled up like an Eskimo. She had on a thermal suit and a big coat with a hood over her head.”  Melissa had made the trip from Pune, India, which is the second largest city in the state of Maharashtra and is located in the western part of India. She was welcomed into her new home and quickly became a part of the family.

“She didn’t care much for me to start with,” Mike said. “I guess she had been used to being around women but not men in the orphanage. It took a little while for her to come around.”

James, her brother, was not too sure about her to begin with, according to her mother, but as they have grown older, they are very close. “We have two wonderful kids,” Mike said.

Tammy said that they have often heard the words that Melissa is lucky that she got the home she did, but that is not the way the Perrys see it.  “She is not the lucky one,” she said. “We are the lucky ones and are very blessed. She is everything we could have hoped for.”

Melissa is a the pride of her parents, but she has not let this go to her head. She is very grounded and knows what is her future is. She just graduated from T.R. Miller High School this year as the valedictorian of her class. In her speech at graduation she expressed herself very well.

“The journey to this point in my life is a very unique one to say the least,” she said. “As a matter of fact, just one choice, one condition, or situation different, and I could very well not be here today. I might not even be in this country. Through an unbelievable set of circumstances, I went from a small orphanage almost eight thousand miles away to a wonderfully loving family in Brewton, Alabama. I have been given an incredible opportunity that most orphaned children are not as fortunate to receive. Through the love and encouragement of my family and friends, I have accomplished what was once thought impossible.”

She didn’t make it easy on herself either. Her parents said she has filled every day with school, church and other activities, and has done each of them successfully.

“I don’t know how she was able to do as much as she has,” Tammy said. “She not only has been active in First Baptist Church, she has taken on all kinds of extracurricular activities and has done them all well.”

Now that Melissa has graduated from high school, she is planning her future as a nurse. She said she hoped to get her master’s degree in nursing and someday be able to teach. She has made another big step toward her future, too. Within the last month she has become engaged to her long-time boyfriend, James Hamric, who is now attending JDCC, and working toward a degree in accounting. Melissa will join him at JDCC and then they will both transfer to the University of West Florida to continue their education.

Melissa’s parents say that both she and James are very goal oriented and level-headed and will wait until they are through with college to marry.  “We want to finish college first,” she said.

It has been an amazing journey for Melissa. She has come a long way, made her impact on her family, and is headed for a bright future.

Editor’s Note:  Holt is still accepting graduate photos of Holt adoptees for the fall issue of Holt International magazine.  If you or your child graduated from high school, college, or vocational school in 2009, there is still time to get your graduate photo in for the fall issue. Click here for a graduate submission form.  Deadline to submit photos is September 1.