Christina "Tina" DeRossi
died this week, after a too-short life that was filled with too
much pain. Yet despite dying a month shy of her third birthday,
despite suffering from AIDS, Tina was a very lucky little girl.
Tina died at home - the
Starcross Community near Annapolis - surrounded by a loving
family. Had Tina been born three years before she was, she would
not have had such a home. At that point in the AIDS epidemic,
few saw the point in trying to place children like Tina in an
adoptive home. AIDS kills, and these children had AIDS. Who
would want to adopt a child who was dying?
Children like Tina helped
to change those attitudes. Tina showed that children live with
AIDS, not just die from it. Like all children, they laugh and
sing and romp and cuddle. They get sick, they can get terribly
sick, but like all children they bounce back fast.
As knowledge of AIDS has
grown, so has awareness. More women who have AIDS, as Tina's
birthmother did, make provisions for their children's care. Just
two days after she was born, Tina came home to Starcross with
her adoptive mother, Sister Julie.
Children like Tina have
changed the adoption bureaucracy. A process that is by necessity
slow and cautious now focuses more clearly on the need of the
children who don't have time to squander.
And Tina helped make
people realize that children with AIDS are, like all children,
treasures. Just this week, two people called the Starcross
Ministry wanting to know how to go about adopting a child with
AIDS.
Despite the positive
strides, too many children still die in institutions. This week,
as the Starcross Community mourned Tina, Brother Tolbert
McCarroll remembered being in an AIDS ward in Romania several
months ago. He saw a cleaning crew, carting out the refuse of
the day, carrying a bag that contained the body of a child.
"Tina died in this old farmhouse
that was her home," Brother Toby said.
Other children should be so lucky.
Because of Tina they will be.
