New life to Warren: Family adopts child

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Daryl Knee
  • 90th Space Wing Public Affairs
F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo. --  Col. Marc Piccolo, 90th Mission Support Group deputy commander, and his wife Rhonda adopted an infant Aug. 12. Joseph Alan Piccolo arrived at Warren in the morning Aug. 13. 

"We were ready to have a family," Mrs. Piccolo said. "We started the paperwork to adopt a child in January." 

The Piccolo's received a call around midnight Aug. 11, directly after Colonel Piccolo's deployment party, to ask if they were interested in an available adoption the next day.
Colonel and Mrs. Piccolo drove through the night to get to the hospital in time. 

"We feel so lucky that we got the call to go see the baby before Marc deployed," Mrs. Piccolo said. "On the way home, we saw shooting stars as if in celebration for the baby. We decided to name him Joseph Alan before my husband deployed." 

"It's difficult to place a child in a family if one parent is deployed," said Ellen McGee, adoption specialist of Wyoming Children Society. "That is an important time in a child's life. They need to know that even though one parent is gone, the child is still loved by them. They need to know that the parent staying home will protect them." 

The Piccolo's arrived home to a house set up for a baby. Col. Ronald Jenkins, 90th MSG commander, and his wife Brenda, with the help of a few other Warren members, fixed the house with baby supplies while the Piccolo's were away. 

The Warren Airman and Family Readiness Center has baby supplies that can be checked out in cases like these. Cindee Leonard, 90th Force Support Squadron, opened the loan closet to help setup the house. 

"The loan closet has many items for checkout," Mrs. Leonard said. "We were able to set up the Piccolo's with items such as a crib, car seat, stroller, booster seat and even baby monitors." 

"Both of us are just thrilled, amazed and excited to have this child," Mrs. Piccolo said. "He's perfect exactly like he is. I mean, how do you say 'no' to a call to adopt?" 

"Many people adopt for various reasons," Ms. McGee said. "The best reason though is that you wish to have another child in the family, to have fun with and to cherish and love." 

For more information on adoption, visit http://www.wyomingcs.org.