County Celebrates National Adoption Day

Six-year-old Ezekiel DeSilva’s friends and new family filled courtroom four at the Prince William County Courthouse on Saturday.    

Ezekiel was there with his parents, Isabec and Jose DeSilva, along with everyone else in the happy crowd, to celebrate his adoption on National Adoption Day, which is held every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.    

This year’s ceremony at the courthouse marked the 20^th year Prince William County has observed the occasion to recognize the children who were adopted over the last year along with the families who adopted them. Over the past 20 years, more than 159 children have been adopted in the Greater Prince William area and have had their adoptions recognized during the county’s National Adoption Day Celebration.

The Prince William County Bar Association, along with its charitable arm, the Prince William County Bar Foundation, hosted the event. Foundation President D. Bradley Marshall told the audience that on a usual day in court, people either walk out winners or losers.

“Today is the only day where everyone walks out a winner, the children, the forever families and the community. So, we are all here today to celebrate that,” Marshall said. “Today is about this wonderful, new, forever family. I love that this day falls in November because it’s right in the middle of the season of thanks, and we have so much to be thankful for today.”

Judge Carrol A. Weimer, the presiding judge for the 31^st Circuit Court, oversaw the ceremony.

“It’s a joy to see smiling faces in my courtroom for a change. It is with great pleasure and honor that I preside over our celebration of adoption,” Weimer said.

Weimer, as is his custom, read names of notable people who were adopted. Weimer’s list included President Bill Clinton, President Gerald Ford, South African President Nelson Mandela, Augustus Caesar, John Hancock, Steve Johns and Snookie, Jamie Foxx, John Lennon, quarterback Colin Kaepernick, pro baseball player Aaron Judge, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, poet Edgar Allen Poe, Ice-T, Babe Ruth, founder of Wendy’s Dave Thomas and gymnast Simone Biles also appeared on Weimer’s list.

Weimer quoted former United States Poet Laureate, author and civil rights leader Maya Angelou.  

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,” Weimer said, quoting Angelou.

The crowd erupted into applause when Weimer declared that Ezekiel’s adoption connected him to everyone in thecourtroom

“Jose and Isabec, you are empowering Ezekiel by making him feel loved and connected to you, your family, your church and your community,” Weimer said. “Ezekiel is now connected to you and that connection will empower him to thrive. Congratulations.”

Jose DeSilva said he had a hard time describing what it meant to him and his wife to have Ezekiel in their lives.

“For him to grow up in a loving home will make all the difference. I didn’t grow up with my dad, so seeing all the difference that it’s making in his life is beyond words,” Jose DeSilva said.

“I never expected something like this to happen in my life,” Isabec DeSilva said. “It’s always said that we come and we change these childrens’ lives, but he has come and changed ours completely. There are no words to really express it, but I can say that he has shown me a side of me that I didn’t know was there – compassion, love and all these things that are hard to put into words.”

Prince William County Department of Social Services Assistant Director of Family Support Services Bridget Alston emceed the ceremony and noted that while Ezekiel was the only child adopted this year in Prince William County, the day was still to be celebrated.

“One child is one wonderful family created. We are so happy to be here,” said Alston.