As Mark put it at court, it was a bittersweet adoption. Caaden’s mom and I were best friends for 18 years.
 
We met her through another friend and she became our nanny for our young children and the baby we had just had. She quickly became our family, as her family lived in MT. She had really wanted to have a child of her own but over the years was repeatedly told she would be unable to conceive. One day a miracle happened and she was pregnant with a baby boy which she gave birth to, Caaden.
 
Unfortunately a year later a misdiagnosed clogged milk gland turned out to be breast cancer and other underlying health issues began to surface. On her 40th birthday we had our usual long phone call, however this call was a bit different. She wanted me to promise her that if anything ever happened to her, that I promised that I would look after her son, after all, I had been there since his birth. I argued that she was not going anywhere, however a week later she was gone. Caaden was 8, she passed away. We won’t discuss what happened next, only that by the time he was 13, I was able to bring him back into our home, thus leading us down the path to creating a loving home and family for him. He is now ours at 16, he will forever be reminded of who his mother was, how much she loved him and that she is always watching over him!
 
We are truly blessed, thank you for helping make this happen!
The Riendeau’s