Welcome! Meet:

Jimmy + Shana

School Custodian / Teacher

New Jersey

Caucasian

Catholic

All About Jimmy & Shana
Why Adoption?
Gallery
Family and Home
How We Met
Advice to Future Child
Perspectives on Open Adoption
Favorites

All About Jimmy & Shana

We are a down to earth happy couple who celebrates the little things in life. We live simple and truly enjoy our moments together. We love traditions and have made some of our own. We celebrate our anniversary every year with a toast from our champagne wedding glasses and ordering the same wedding cake for dinner every year! We are truly best friends and are able to count on each other no matter what. Our communication, trust, love, friendship and the tons of laughs we have is what makes our marriage successful. We love being together on this journey called life. Our family unit means everything to us and we can't wait to make that family grow and share our lives and love with a child.

The best thing about our relationship is that it doesn't matter where we are or what we are doing as long as we are together. Hanging out on the patio, cooking dinner together, being at the beach, or even doing yard work, we are just happiest when together.

Why Adoption?

Our reasons for choosing adoption were not a quick decision. We have some infertility issues on Shana’s side. There was a low quantity of eggs at a young age for Shana. Premature menopause and primary ovarian insufficiency are the main factors of infertility. Our feelings about infertility of course are silent. It is hard to speak about it, however we are so supportive of each other that we do have a happy life. We live our life to the fullest and of course our life would be even better as a growing family.

We decided as a family that fertility treatments were not for us. We met with doctors looking at all our possibilities and even though we were open minded it just did not seem to mesh with us. Instead we had this feeling to try to adopt and see where this would lead us. We educated ourselves by going to several agencies and hearing what they had to say. We have met with adults that are from the adopted community and of course researched on our own. Shana is an active member in volunteering for CASA and understands the foster system well and therefore that was not an option that we wanted to go for.

We were with an adoption agency for 8 years until they closed, we have been interviewed by Birthmothers many times and it always came down to us or another family. It seems odd to say this but there were never any hard feelings for not being chosen, it was just a sad moment but yet a tranquil because we know that the birth mother always has the best intentions for their child and that always gave off some positive closure to walk away from.

Family & Home

We live in a quiet, suburban lake neighborhood with tons of children and friendly neighbors. We are far enough away from the big city to hear the peace and quiet at night, but close enough for a short trip to the mall, amusement park or even the city. We have many close friends in the town with whom we frequently visit and gather for weekend cookouts. You can often find us lounging in our yard, with the hanging lights on and chill music. On cool nights you can find us gathered around our bonfire with s'mores and enjoying the evening. Our home is a place for everyone to enjoy and relax at, it has that lived in feeling where everyone is comfy. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms and sits on a half acre lot. Our yard is completely fenced in and has plenty of space for a child to enjoy. Our house has lots of room for a child to grow inside our safe and loving home.

Our neighborhood is great. There are lots of things for a child to do. We have an elementary school around the corner, a playground and walking trails. We also have a beautiful lake with two beaches and holiday events at the main hall. Every year, Santa rides through town on a fire truck to greet all the children after a helicopter drops him off at the soccer field! Our little lake community is amazing!

How others describe me

Jimmy shares about Shana: She has a brilliant scientific mind and is an extraordinary teacher. She has a wonderful way of connecting with her students and they benefit greatly from it. She is extremely selfless and gives all of herself to anyone in need. She runs coat drives, food drives, and hosts many opportunities for the community to better themselves. She never stops going, tons of energy and drive to get things done. She has this loud laugh that you can hear often and an amazing smile that just brings people in. She has a sense of adventure to wander but yet has a love of staying home and relaxing.

Shana shares about Jimmy: I loved watching Jimmy at work. He was calm, cool and collected in a chaotic middle school environment. He made me laugh all the time and left me little notes in my classroom. I would seek him out through the day just to see him and chit chat. I was giddy when he asked me out and couldn’t wait to go on my first date with him. I just loved how relaxed and calm he made me feel. He made me laugh all the time and I just couldn’t wait to laugh with him— and now I get to. I love sitting in the yard in the summer under the lights with him, just listening to the radio and chatting about our days. I love his silly sense of humor and how everyone loves him. Jimmy is the nicest guy that you will ever meet.

How We Met

We met in middle school but not as students; we were coworkers. Shana the teacher and Jimmy the custodian. We started out with little chit chats here and there. Eventually, we started hanging out as friends and eventually started dating. We fell in love, got engaged and married within a year. We always say that Jimmy “swept” Shana off her feet, and love and giggle at it since it is so cute how we met. We loved our wedding and speak about it often. It was the best day of our life, so far.

Advice to Future Child

We hope to be parents who raise children that are kind, sincere, respectful and their authentic selves. We aim to parent with a tremendous amount of love and patience. Our hopes and advice to our future child is to be yourself. To be an independent thinker, explorer, and risk taker of their own life. We hope that you will ask for a guided hand from us is what we strive for. We ask that they reserve their judgment of their past if it is unclear or not picture perfect, and we ask that they see everything with both eyes open.

Perspectives on Open Adoption

Our level of openness that we would like to see between families is open to semi open adoption. We always want our child to know who they are, from where they came from. We never want it to be a secret of why they look that way or the talents they have come from somewhere. We hope that there will be an agreement that works best for everyone emotionally. We have no issues sharing videos, creating albums or visitations a couple of times of year. We hope that the future will have a more organic moment with the families. We are open to change and whatever will be best for the child. We see raising a child in need of a village and that village includes our extended families, friends and of course the birth parents.

Favorites

Jimmy

Favorite Movie: The Fisher King
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: Christmas for a favorite Holiday- Hanging up the outdoor lights at Christmas Time.
Hobbies/Interests: Traveling, the Jersey Shore vacations, Broadway Shows in NYC, Dining out, Seeing the Holiday sights in NYC, grilling for friends and family
Dream Vacation: Sicily
If I Could Choose a Superpower: healing

Shana

Favorite Movie: Selena
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: Christmas - Getting to be “Santa Claus” and handing out the gifts to everyone on Christmas Eve, then going to Midnight Mass
Hobbies/Interests: gardening, traveling, working out, kayaking
Dream Vacation: Alaska- to see the amazing Aurora borealis, the Northern lights
If I Could Choose a Superpower: ability to have natural magic