CHARLOTTE — All Melody Sawyers wanted for Valentine’s Day was a companion, and her prayers were answered this year, but not in the way she was expecting.
Decorations and heart-shaped gifts are all classic parts of Valentine’s Day traditions, but this love story looks a little different.
“All I know is I love these girls and I want to look into adoption,” Melody told Channel 9′s Hannah Goetz.
She never thought this is what her Valentine’s Day would look like this year.
“It’s funny because I had prayed for so long. God, please send me somebody, please send me a companion, I want somebody who I can love, who will love me,” Melody said.
Her prayers were answered in the form of two girls she’s in the process of adopting.
“It was like God said, listen, I’m gonna answer that prayer, I’m not going to send you one, I’m going to send you two,” Melody told Goetz. “And to drive the point home, I’m going to do it on Valentine’s Day.”
Melody started looking into fostering after a case she witnessed at her job in pediatric hospice care. A very sick little girl in foster care passed away with no family around.
“She hadn’t done anything to deserve to not have a family, and so I started doing a little bit of research,” Melody said.
Her good friend, Carrie, introduced her to the two girls she was fostering. They’re 5 and 11. One of the girls is in remission from cancer, and would need a lot of medical help.
“I wish I could adopt them, and Carrie said, ‘Well, why can’t you?’ And I was like, ‘I cannot adopt two kids, there’s no way,’” Melody said.
But Carrie knew Melody had what the girls were asking for in a home and medical support. Carrie told Melody if she had the love, the rest would follow.
Fast-forward a few months later, and the two women were setting up Melody’s new house for the girls’ arrival Friday.
“The oldest that Melody is adopting said, ‘I’m going to be adopted! Finally, I’m going to be adopted,’ and then I just wanted to cry,” Carrie said.
It’s a big change and a new chapter for Melody and the girls. But it’s one they will go through together, and every Valentine’s Day from here on out they’ll be reminded of the love that brought them there.
“Love looks like, it looks like adopting, it looks like having biological kids, it looks like families that come in all different shapes and sizes,” Carrie said.
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