By Nicole June
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – After six years of trial and error, as well as a healthy dose of patience, the Pawlisz family officially welcomed their new son, Cody Richard Pawlisz, on Feb. 18, 2016.
Crystalyn Pawlisz and her husband, Sgt. Anthony Pawlisz, have been trying to adopt a child for the past six years and have seen their share of struggles. They endured three failed adoptions, deployments, and new duty stations along the way.
Sgt. Pawlisz is assigned to the 1st battalion, 101st Aviation “Expect No Mercy” at Fort Campbell. He and his wife have lived in the area for two and a half years.
The couple began fostering Cody (who is now a year old) ten months ago after his previous foster family was unable to adopt him. During the adoption process, Anthony deployed to Afghanistan and had to complete paperwork and other necessary steps via Skype before finally returning home Jan. 12.
The adoption was carried out by Youth Villages of Clarksville, where Crystalyn also teaches a class to help others become foster parents. She was certified by DCS in Nashville.
Crystalyn and Anthony took their final step toward parenthood Thursday as the adoption became legal.
“(It feels) amazing. It’s so quick in the courtroom, but I literally felt like we were there for hours,” Crystalyn said. “It was the best feeling in the world.”
Now that their little unit is complete, the Pawlisz family hopes to remain in the area for as long as possible so Crystalyn can continue teaching foster parenting classes.
Though the process was lengthy and at times painful, Crystalyn encourages others who want to become parents to stay the course.
“Don’t give up. It was six years that we tried and tried and tried. As long as they have the will to do it, there’s always a way,” she said.