former elementary and high school classmate at international folk-dancing classes. The duo became inseparable. “I had not really had a true soul mate in my life,” she says. Until Greg Abdoo. They married, set up housekeeping, and began plotting to have a family. The storyline changed when just months later, Greg was killed in an automobile accident while training for long-distance races on his bicycle.

Tragedy entered Marianne’s life in the eerily quick way new love had just been ushered in.

“We got along so well, never any conflicts, true respect for each other,” says Marianne. “We built each other up too. Greg used to tell me I was so strong. I couldn’t believe it. It was very hard for me when he died, just when I had met my guide through life.”

The Epiphany of Change

It was after Greg’s death that she began to look at her own life differently. Having fallen in love and experienced romance with Greg gave the former teacher turned librarian the courage to pursue a long-held yearning for motherhood.

“It was through Greg that I got my courage to move on and do something with my life. I have a good job as a librarian in a well-to-do community; have been blessed with wonderful parents and siblings and a husband who made me believe in myself. Yet I wanted more out of life. I am a former teacher and wanted my own children if it was meant to be. I grew up in a large family and know the benefits, so I wanted to share that with some children who otherwise