Although popular cinema and even news reports highlight real-life horrors that some adopted children go through, there are also families who restore hope. Jennifer Hubby, a realtor from Rio Rancho, New Mexico, says that she feels like the happiest mother on the planet when her son Cameron calls Jennifer “momma,” and uses the word “mom” to call his biological mother, Kim Hubby, who is Jennifer’s wife. But when the moms were legally adopting the boy in October 2022, Cameron’s innocent request in the courtroom reduced Jennifer to tears of joy, according to a report by Good Morning America.
It was the day of October 27, 2022, when a small group of people had gathered inside a New Mexico courtroom in Bernalillo. This included Jennifer, Cameron, and Jennifer’s best friend Milly Davies, apart from the judge who was reading out the terms of adoption. When the hearing was nearly over, the judge asked the courtroom if anyone wanted to speak, and was soon taken by surprise when 5-year-old Cameron asked for permission to say something for his momma.
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"I just want to say that I love my mom so much and that she's the best mom I've ever had and I love her so much," Cameron exclaimed while giving a hug to his momma. Jennifer, who calls him “the most sensitive boy in the world,” told Good Morning America, “I’ll never forget it.” Milly recorded the emotional episode on camera, and the clip is now going viral.
Following Cameron's heartwarming gesture, Judge Cheryl H. Johnston also remarked, “Oh my gosh! You know what, it’s important to tell people you love them, and they care about you. And so, you’re a lucky guy. I’m glad you love her. That’s what we’re supposed to be doing. It’s a good thing.” The judge walked to the family while Jennifer couldn’t stop crying. She requested their signatures and then congratulated the couple.
Jennifer had been trying to adopt the five-year-old boy since he was born. Although he was born from a previous marriage and had always been with them, the relationship wasn’t legally recognized. The couple wouldn’t be able to protect the child until they adopted him legally, but the procedure was so difficult that they had to wait it out. In addition to all the formalities, the duo also faced financial hurdles to officially make Cameron a part of the family. “Adoption is a very expensive process," Jennifer said. "Even though ours was pretty straightforward, stepparent adoption, still there's a lot that goes into it -- financially, background check, emotionally, having the conversation with the partner."
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Now that the family is happy and peaceful, the story of Cameron’s adoption is making rounds on social media, leaving users in tears. Commenting on the courtroom video, @RJH_LIL said, “I think everyone in that courtroom was tearing up.” @pierre-deniscloutier2594 added, “This is far more than sweet. And when we say that ‘love is pure’, this is a perfect example of it.” @mariedixon6318 reflected, “Parents don't have to be blood; they just have to be there, [and] give love [and] security.”
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Will your current friends still be with you after seven years?
Professor shares how many years a friendship must last before it'll become lifelong
Think of your best friend. How long have you known them? Growing up, children make friends and say they’ll be best friends forever. That’s where “BFF” came from, for crying out loud. But is the concept of the lifelong friend real? If so, how many years of friendship will have to bloom before a friendship goes the distance? Well, a Dutch study may have the answer to that last question.
Sociologist Gerald Mollenhorst and his team in the Netherlands did extensive research on friendships and made some interesting findings in his surveys and studies. Mollenhorst found that over half of your friendships will “shed” within seven years. However, the relationships that go past the seven-year mark tend to last. This led to the prevailing theory that most friendships lasting more than seven years would endure throughout a person’s lifetime.
In Mollenhorst’s findings, lifelong friendships seem to come down to one thing: reciprocal effort. The primary reason so many friendships form and fade within seven-year cycles has much to do with a person’s ages and life stages. A lot of people lose touch with elementary and high school friends because so many leave home to attend college. Work friends change when someone gets promoted or finds a better job in a different state. Some friends get married and have children, reducing one-on-one time together, and thus a friendship fades. It’s easy to lose friends, but naturally harder to keep them when you’re no longer in proximity.
Some people on Reddit even wonder if lifelong friendships are actually real or just a romanticized thought nowadays. However, older commenters showed that lifelong friendship is still possible:
“I met my friend on the first day of kindergarten. Maybe not the very first day, but within the first week. We were texting each other stupid memes just yesterday. This year we’ll both celebrate our 58th birthdays.”
“My oldest friend and I met when she was just 5 and I was 9. Next-door neighbors. We're now both over 60 and still talk weekly and visit at least twice a year.”
“I’m 55. I’ve just spent a weekend with friends I met 24 and 32 years ago respectively. I’m also still in touch with my penpal in the States. I was 15 when we started writing to each other.”
“My friends (3 of them) go back to my college days in my 20’s that I still talk to a minimum of once a week. I'm in my early 60s now.”
“We ebb and flow. Sometimes many years will pass as we go through different things and phases. Nobody gets buttsore if we aren’t in touch all the time. In our 50s we don’t try and argue or be petty like we did before. But I love them. I don’t need a weekly lunch to know that. I could make a call right now if I needed something. Same with them.”
Maintaining a friendship for life is never guaranteed, but there are ways, psychotherapists say, that can make a friendship last. It’s not easy, but for a friendship to last, both participants need to make room for patience and place greater weight on their similarities than on the differences that may develop over time. Along with that, it’s helpful to be tolerant of large distances and gaps of time between visits, too. It’s not easy, and it requires both people involved to be equally invested to keep the friendship alive and from becoming stagnant.
As tough as it sounds, it is still possible. You may be a fortunate person who can name several friends you’ve kept for over seven years or over seventy years. But if you’re not, every new friendship you make has the same chance and potential of being lifelong.