Hello family and friends...The update on the tragic situation where the father died suddenly last week in the very city we are in today has the right ending, yet one that is no doubt bittersweet. Sandi Sheldon is home in Michigan with her newly-adopted daughter Hannah.
One can not imagine the emotions that run through her very being, as she prepares to bury her husband Dennis next week on the 30th at the same time she continues her start in motherhood. Below is a cut-out of the article in the Lansing State Journal (thanks go to our friend Mariah from the Waiting China Families ListServe for forwarding it); an on-line version can be found at http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071118/NEWS01/711180602/1001/news .
Lastly...Sandi, 42, works part time at a Wal-Mart store, and her mother granted that money could be tight. I'm sure this courageous woman could use our help, be it ten dollars or one-hundred and ten dollars. Donations may be sent by check to Hope For Hannah, Fifth Third Bank, 6446 S. Cedar St., Lansing, MI 48911. (Rose and I respectfully ask that you please forward this particular blog post to anyone and everyone you think would want to help.)
Peace be with your family. May your prayers be with this family.
Demian
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Homecoming bittersweet for Lansing mom, daughter
Tears, smiles and hugs greet family
Kathleen Lavey
Lansing State Journal
Tears, smiles and hugs greet family
Kathleen Lavey
Lansing State Journal
(published November 18, 2007)
Sandi Sheldon arrived home to tears, smiles and hugs Saturday after
losing her husband and gaining a daughter in China.
Sheldon, 42, of Lansing, came down an escalator and through a security
gate at Capital City Airport just after 4:30 p.m. Saturday with her
newly adopted daughter, 18-month-old Hannah, in her arms.
They walked straight into the embrace of her mother, Darlene Hill.
Sandi Sheldon's husband, Dennis Sheldon, 46, died during their adoption trip.
An immigration snag threatened to hold up her return home with Hannah.
Asked how it felt to finally be back in Lansing, Sheldon simply replied: "Wonderful."
Family and friends snapped homecoming photos and waited their turns for hugs.
"She's adorable, she's so adorable," said Cathy Murray of Onondaga, Sandi Sheldon's sister.
Hannah, wearing a pink-plaid jumper and hot-pink shoes, looked intently and curiously at the crowd of more than 30 well-wishers.
Murray's 10-month-old granddaughter, Annabelle Letts, knew just how to greet her new family member: She offered Hannah a hug.
Sandi and Dennis Sheldon left for China on Oct. 30. Dennis Sheldon died Monday from heart failure, possibly aggravated by diabetes.
The adoption was complete before he died, and Chinese officials had signed off on it.
But there was a catch.
U.S. immigration officials wanted Sandi Sheldon to re-file paperwork before granting Hannah a visa, a time-consuming process that could have forced her to stay in China or come home without her baby.
But their story spread fast to family, friends and fellow adoptive parents around the country, who flooded legislators with phone calls regarding the Sheldons' case.
Hannah got her visa after U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, and U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, and the Sheldons' adoption agency, Bethany Christian Services, intervened.
Sandi Sheldon said she was grateful for their help and for help from other adoptive families who traveled to China at the same time.
Said also said she plans to take the future "one day at a time" as she raises her new baby and copes with her husband's death.
"He was a wonderful man," she said of her late husband, who was head custodian at Lansing's Pleasant View Elementary.
A funeral Mass for Dennis Sheldon is scheduled for noon Nov. 30 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 3815 S. Cedar St.
Sandi Sheldon arrived home to tears, smiles and hugs Saturday after
losing her husband and gaining a daughter in China.
Sheldon, 42, of Lansing, came down an escalator and through a security
gate at Capital City Airport just after 4:30 p.m. Saturday with her
newly adopted daughter, 18-month-old Hannah, in her arms.
They walked straight into the embrace of her mother, Darlene Hill.
Sandi Sheldon's husband, Dennis Sheldon, 46, died during their adoption trip.
An immigration snag threatened to hold up her return home with Hannah.
Asked how it felt to finally be back in Lansing, Sheldon simply replied: "Wonderful."
Family and friends snapped homecoming photos and waited their turns for hugs.
"She's adorable, she's so adorable," said Cathy Murray of Onondaga, Sandi Sheldon's sister.
Hannah, wearing a pink-plaid jumper and hot-pink shoes, looked intently and curiously at the crowd of more than 30 well-wishers.
Murray's 10-month-old granddaughter, Annabelle Letts, knew just how to greet her new family member: She offered Hannah a hug.
Sandi and Dennis Sheldon left for China on Oct. 30. Dennis Sheldon died Monday from heart failure, possibly aggravated by diabetes.
The adoption was complete before he died, and Chinese officials had signed off on it.
But there was a catch.
U.S. immigration officials wanted Sandi Sheldon to re-file paperwork before granting Hannah a visa, a time-consuming process that could have forced her to stay in China or come home without her baby.
But their story spread fast to family, friends and fellow adoptive parents around the country, who flooded legislators with phone calls regarding the Sheldons' case.
Hannah got her visa after U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, and U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, and the Sheldons' adoption agency, Bethany Christian Services, intervened.
Sandi Sheldon said she was grateful for their help and for help from other adoptive families who traveled to China at the same time.
Said also said she plans to take the future "one day at a time" as she raises her new baby and copes with her husband's death.
"He was a wonderful man," she said of her late husband, who was head custodian at Lansing's Pleasant View Elementary.
A funeral Mass for Dennis Sheldon is scheduled for noon Nov. 30 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 3815 S. Cedar St.
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