Full Text of HR1120 98th General Assembly
HR1120 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Parenthood is a remarkable adventure, an | 3 | | incredible responsibility, and a constant challenge; adopting | 4 | | a child is one of the most transformative, selfless, and | 5 | | rewarding acts of parenthood, which is magnified when adopting | 6 | | 3 children at the same time; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, In the summer of 2013, out of their desire to | 8 | | share their home and their love with children and understanding | 9 | | that countless children around the world are in need of a | 10 | | family, Will and Macy Cousineau made the life-changing decision | 11 | | to adopt 3 young sisters from Latvia: 8-year-old Sindija, | 12 | | 7-year-old Linda, and 4-year-old Ieva; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, As part of the months-long, involved, and | 14 | | exhaustive adoption process, in December of 2013, Will and Macy | 15 | | opened their home and their hearts to Sindija and Linda by | 16 | | hosting them for 4 weeks; though the girls spoke very little | 17 | | English, they were immediately kind, well-behaved, and loving | 18 | | and Will and Macy bonded with them instantly; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, During the girls' visit, Will and Macy took to | 20 | | parenthood naturally and embraced the girls as their own; they | 21 | | got to know as much as possible about Sindija and Linda and | 22 | | their lives, took family trips to Chicago and St. Louis, and |
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| 1 | | taught the girls how to translate on an iPad; the 4 weeks | 2 | | passed all too quickly and Will and Macy struggled to say | 3 | | goodbye when the girls had to return to Latvia, unable even to | 4 | | tell them they would be together again in a short time; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, In April of 2014, Will and Macy got the call they | 6 | | had been waiting months to receive, that, in just days, they | 7 | | would reunite with Sindija and Linda and meet Ieva for the | 8 | | first time; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Will and Macy made the nearly 20-hour journey to | 10 | | Latvia to spend 3 weeks with the girls, the first of 3 trips to | 11 | | the country as part of the adoption process; they spent time | 12 | | with the girls' loving grandmother, traveled from their | 13 | | orphanage to the Latvian capital of Riga, where they visited | 14 | | Riga's old town, spent several days at the park, went to the | 15 | | zoo and the Riga Circus, ate lunch at Cathedral Square, waded | 16 | | in the Baltic Sea, climbed Gaizinkalns Hill, the highest point | 17 | | in Latvia, and attended Easter service at St. Peter's Church, | 18 | | one of the oldest monuments of medieval architectural in the | 19 | | Baltic which was first mentioned in written documents in 1209; | 20 | | and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, The girls could not wait to arrive in their new | 22 | | home, asking Will and Macy every morning how many "good | 23 | | mornings" until their arrival in America; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The Cousineau family, now 5 strong, returned to | 2 | | the United States on May 1, 2014, just beginning their new life | 3 | | together as a family; Will and Macy are learning more about | 4 | | their new daughters and the girls' homeland and culture; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Sindija, Linda, and Ieva have seamlessly adapted | 6 | | to their new surroundings and lives; Sindija's favorite color | 7 | | is red and Linda's and Ieva's favorite color is violet; the | 8 | | girls enjoy riding their new bicycles in Washington Park and | 9 | | will soon begin a summer school program; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, New parents Will and Macy Cousineau have forever | 11 | | changed the lives of 3 young sisters from Latvia and made sure | 12 | | the sisters remain together as a family; where language and | 13 | | cultural differences may often create barriers, Will and Macy | 14 | | have made their devotion to their new daughters unquestionably | 15 | | clear through their unconditional love; therefore, be it
| 16 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 17 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 18 | | we congratulate Will and Macy Cousineau in bringing Sindija, | 19 | | Linda, and Ieva into their lives and wish them all the best as | 20 | | they continue their amazing journey as a family; and be it | 21 | | further
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 | | presented to the Cousineau family as an expression of our | 3 | | esteem and respect.
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