She is 84 years old and over her life she has adopted 9 children: the story of a woman born to give maternal love
Having the opportunity to adopt is not only a blessing from heaven but also a combination of working through the bureaucracy and a bit of luck, it's also choice, vocation, personal faith, desire that is sometimes born and comes from a difficulty in being able to welcome biological children into the home. There are many couples and families who struggle for years and years to be able to adopt a less fortunate child and welcome them into their home to expand their loving and affectionate family, and the couple at the center of this beautiful story are no exception.
Today we want to tell you the story of Lois Schaefer, an 84-year-old woman who lives in Jacksonville, Florida, who wanted to welcome not one, but 9 adopted children into her home. Unfortunately, Lois knew early on that for medical reasons she could not conceive a biological child, and this revelation initially cast a shadow and caused sadness within her family. She and her husband, who had met in the 1960s and moved away as soon as they obtained their Master's in teaching, had always dreamed of having a family with at least three children: if they couldn't have biological ones, they would do everything they could to adopt them.
In the fall of 1963 they turned to the Children's Home Society and the following year managed to adopt their first child, named Danny. in 1965 Lois and her husband moved into a new house with three bedrooms and an extra bathroom, and in September of that year they adopted Mark: their family was growing ...
In 1966 a couple who were close friends of Lois's husband lost their lives in a terrible car accident and this left their 4 children orphaned: Scott (11), Cindy (9), Steve (7) and Shelley 5 years; as there were no relatives willing to adopt the four children and keep them together, Lois and her husband didn't think twice and decided to adopt all four of them. It wasn't long before these orphans called them "mom and dad". In the spring of 1968 the couple adopted Ruth, a beautiful little girl with blond hair, while two years later little Julia arrived, the eighth child welcomed into the home by Lois Schaefer.
But the ninth guest had yet to arrive ... in February 1974 a child with special needs named Paul was officially adopted into the Schaefer family, with the approval of all the members of the house: they would take care of little Paul. Lois, now 84, says she has never regretted her choice, and would do it all over again: "Yes, like any family we have had difficulties and problems, but the blessings of this great and wonderful adoptive family outweigh by far any problem. I wish I could adopt more but at 84, reality says no!"
What a unique and loving and unique mother Lois has been!
