A family grows

EVERY DAY my children climb mountains to complete that which comes easy to many: a successful day at school, having fun with friends, going to sleep without the crushing fear of waking up to find they must move once again. And I, their gay parent, wake knowing that the sacred work of my day is to consistently give loving messages to my miracle children. I pray daily for the strength and patience to keep replacing the painful lessons they learned in their life before me.

When Catholic Charities handled my son's adoption, we received nothing but love and support from his social worker and therapist. The staff of the post-adoption program provided by Catholic Charities brought us back from the brink of disaster on many occasions.

My son is old enough to understand why Catholic Charities decided to end adoptions (''Catholic Charities stuns state, ends adoptions," Page A1, March 11). He is angry and bewildered. His response was, ''That's crazy. Without gay people, many children wouldn't be adopted." My son's birth family wasn't capable of caring for him, his extended family failed him, and now the Catholic Church says his adoptive parents aren't qualified to raise him. Add a few more boulders to that mountain he climbs daily.

KAREN OSTER
North Chelmsford