failures. And the majority of those kids who do fail are boys. We could always consider skipping a grade after we see how this year plays out.”
“He’ll be fine!” J.R. blurted out, unaccustomed to the standard decorum of a board meeting. “His dad skipped first grade.” Aside from Prescott, no one else in the room was aware that J.R. knew Ryan personally.
“Dr. Ralston had a close relationship with RTJ’s birth family,” Prescott quickly interjected, not entirely pleased that the information was now public. “And he maintains a close relationship with the boy, which is one reason we extended him the invitation to participate on the board.
“I really don’t think there’s a clear ‘right’ answer on this one,” Prescott said in a feigned conciliatory tone. “We’ll put it to a vote. All in favor of pursuing a higher grade placement?”
After 7 ayes, the matter was settled.
~~~
By the time Thomas finally built up the nerve to broach the subject, Sara was already convinced. Neither Thomas nor Sara had wanted the other to think that they were giving up on conceiving a child, so they had never discussed adoption. But almost instantaneously, after building for three years, a pressure valve seemed to have been released. Suddenly, neither felt inadequate any longer or wondered if that’s how they were perceived by their spouse. Intimacy once again was about making love instead of the emotionally-distant act of “trying to get pregnant.” No more charting temperatures; no more doctors; no more “expert” advice from friends; no more procedures. But they still didn’t have a child.
From the day of their engagement, they had been subjected to friends’ and family’s gushing about how adorable and smart and athletic their children would be, which had only served to create a picture in their minds of what their child’s potential would be. So, in addition to desperately wanting a child to love, they‘d cultivated a strong desire to guide this extraordinary child they’d both been imagining toward realizing his or her potential.
Consequently, they wound up registering with the most restrictive adoption agency they could find, which meant that while they would be required to provide more information about themselves, they would also have access to more information about the prospective child.
Reams of paper documenting every year of their lives pre- and post-marriage were notarized and mailed and faxed back and forth. Rigorous background checks, including fingerprinting, reviews of tax returns, and detailed interviews with contacts from different points in their lives, took them six weeks to complete.
At the end of it all, they were presented with a local boy, who had already significantly separated himself from his peers academically, with biological parents who had both earned doctoral degrees. He had been reading books since age 3, they learned. In kindergarten, he’d been referred to a neuropsychologist and had maxed out the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, the most commonly administered IQ test for kids, after which he was labeled by his public school as “gifted.” Sara, a gifted teacher herself, chuckled when she’d read that. “That’s like labeling Wilt Chamberlain tall,” she’d told Thomas. Then of course there was the Initial Aptitude Test he’d aced in September of first grade. The only concern they had left was whether or not this savant could function in a social setting.
A review of his teacher’s report had revealed that toward the end of first grade he had withdrawn socially, but prior to his parents’ deaths, the only negative comments he’d ever received were that he was at times too social and could be a distraction to the other kids – the hallmark of an unchallenged gifted student.
All of Ryan’s information was delivered to the Ewings piecemeal over a three-week period with his name withheld until the end
“He’ll be fine!” J.R. blurted out, unaccustomed to the standard decorum of a board meeting. “His dad skipped first grade.” Aside from Prescott, no one else in the room was aware that J.R. knew Ryan personally.
“Dr. Ralston had a close relationship with RTJ’s birth family,” Prescott quickly interjected, not entirely pleased that the information was now public. “And he maintains a close relationship with the boy, which is one reason we extended him the invitation to participate on the board.
“I really don’t think there’s a clear ‘right’ answer on this one,” Prescott said in a feigned conciliatory tone. “We’ll put it to a vote. All in favor of pursuing a higher grade placement?”
After 7 ayes, the matter was settled.
~~~
By the time Thomas finally built up the nerve to broach the subject, Sara was already convinced. Neither Thomas nor Sara had wanted the other to think that they were giving up on conceiving a child, so they had never discussed adoption. But almost instantaneously, after building for three years, a pressure valve seemed to have been released. Suddenly, neither felt inadequate any longer or wondered if that’s how they were perceived by their spouse. Intimacy once again was about making love instead of the emotionally-distant act of “trying to get pregnant.” No more charting temperatures; no more doctors; no more “expert” advice from friends; no more procedures. But they still didn’t have a child.
From the day of their engagement, they had been subjected to friends’ and family’s gushing about how adorable and smart and athletic their children would be, which had only served to create a picture in their minds of what their child’s potential would be. So, in addition to desperately wanting a child to love, they‘d cultivated a strong desire to guide this extraordinary child they’d both been imagining toward realizing his or her potential.
Consequently, they wound up registering with the most restrictive adoption agency they could find, which meant that while they would be required to provide more information about themselves, they would also have access to more information about the prospective child.
Reams of paper documenting every year of their lives pre- and post-marriage were notarized and mailed and faxed back and forth. Rigorous background checks, including fingerprinting, reviews of tax returns, and detailed interviews with contacts from different points in their lives, took them six weeks to complete.
At the end of it all, they were presented with a local boy, who had already significantly separated himself from his peers academically, with biological parents who had both earned doctoral degrees. He had been reading books since age 3, they learned. In kindergarten, he’d been referred to a neuropsychologist and had maxed out the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, the most commonly administered IQ test for kids, after which he was labeled by his public school as “gifted.” Sara, a gifted teacher herself, chuckled when she’d read that. “That’s like labeling Wilt Chamberlain tall,” she’d told Thomas. Then of course there was the Initial Aptitude Test he’d aced in September of first grade. The only concern they had left was whether or not this savant could function in a social setting.
A review of his teacher’s report had revealed that toward the end of first grade he had withdrawn socially, but prior to his parents’ deaths, the only negative comments he’d ever received were that he was at times too social and could be a distraction to the other kids – the hallmark of an unchallenged gifted student.
All of Ryan’s information was delivered to the Ewings piecemeal over a three-week period with his name withheld until the end
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