Related
•
CoSIDA Goodwill & Wellness Committee
•
Communicators Outside the Lines Feature Series
This is the next profile in a series entitled
Communicators Outside the Lines: Better Yourself, Better Your Community produced by the CoSIDA Goodwill & Wellness Committee. Read past profiles at
CoSIDA.com/CommunicatorsOTL.
WE NEED YOUR IDEAS!
If you have any ideas for this series, which will revolve around CoSIDA member volunteerism and health and wellness, please contact Goodwill and Wellness Committee chair
Chris Mitchell, Washington University in St. Louis Assistant AD for Communications, at (618) 560-9280 or
mitchell@wustl.edu.
Q&A with Parker Griffith
Murray State University, Media Relations Assistant
by A.J. O'Hagan – Yeshiva University, Sports Information Director
CoSIDA Goodwill and Wellness Committee member
Parker Griffith wears many hats. He is currently in his eighth year as the Media Relations Assistant for the Murray State University Athletics Department. The Murray resident also volunteers his time to serve on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Committee. However, there is one role that he is most proud of: Being a parent.
Griffith and his wife Kristy are foster parents to two daughters, “Kay” and “Em”, and are in the process of adopting them. In fact, they are passionate advocates for foster care.
Griffith with his daughters Kay and Em.
Griffith is not able to conceive a child of his own because he suffers from Male Infertility, which means that he cannot cause pregnancy in a fertile female. “It hit me like a ton of bricks,” Griffith said regarding his reaction to being diagnosed. “The rest of that meeting, all I heard was the ‘Charlie Brown’ voice. I was zoning out.”
Griffith and his wife looked at several options. It was possible to have surgery, but the Griffiths felt it was too expensive and that there was only a 50% chance it would work. But then, a past co-worker of Griffith’s gave him some advice that would change his life. “An athletic trainer I worked with and her wife started fostering,” Griffith explained. “We talked with them and decided that this was for us. We realized that there are so many children that need our help.”
In October of 2016, the Griffith’s finally had their chance. Baby Kay, not even a year old, entered their lives. They were finally parents; they finally had a family. However, in December of 2017, they had to go to court. The birth mother became pregnant with Em and has she had done everything the courts had asked of her, the judge sent Kay back with biological mom and new sister. So one week before Christmas, which is also Griffith’s birthday, Kay left Griffith and his wife. “We were grieving,” Griffith said. “We were both very low.”
The Griffiths did develop a good relationship with the mother and even got to go to Kay’s second birthday party.
Then in the middle of the night in April 2018, everything changed. There was a circumstance with the birth mother which allowed the Griffiths an opportunity to not only get Kay back as a foster child, but also be able to raise Em as well, who was eight months old at the time. “My wife asked me ‘we’re doing this, right?’ I didn’t hesitate to say yes,” Griffith said. “We were over the moon!” They ended up reuniting with Kay and are also the proud foster parents of her sister, Em.
Now, the Griffiths are on the verge of officially adopting them both. Kay is going to be four, while Em just turned two. “It’s been a long road to get here, unbelievable.” Griffith said.
Griffith with wife Kristy at a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game.
Q: Have there been any issues with Kay and Em not being your biological children?
Griffith: “We are open and honest with them. They hear terms like ‘social workers, adoption, and court.’ They may not understand everything, but we don’t want to blindside them. My mother is also adopted and when she was small she found out because someone on the playground made fun of her for it. We don’t want that to happen to our girls. To me, it doesn’t matter that they don’t have our blood. We love them both so much. They are our world.”
Q: What motivated you to go in the direction of foster care and what advice would you give people who are thinking about going on that route?
Griffith: “There are a lot of people that need help. Whether it’s a teenager, kid, or a baby, there are plenty of individuals that need someone to guide them. They need a home and they want a family. I would strongly encourage people to look into foster care, but you have to have the heart and the need to do it.”
Q: Why did you open up about your diagnosis and how do you live with it?
Griffith: “It’s not easy to talk about. You think that you can’t have kids and that it is all your fault. But it’s not your fault. I am open about it because if I could help one person get through it, that would mean so much to me. Everyone receives a bad hand in life. It’s up to you to make the most of it. It’s not like I have to go through chemotherapy. I don’t have cancer or a life-threatening disease. There are people out there that have to go through so much and have it way worse than I do.”
Q: Switching gears, you are a native of Memphis. You worked in several locations such as Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi. Now you are in your eighth year at Murray State University, in Kentucky. How does it feel to finally have stability? To have the same job and live in the same area for an extended period?
Griffith: “It’s been great. I love Murray State. I have an incredible boss I work for. Also, our recently hired A.D. brings new life and joy to this place. To be able to be here and remain here is a great feeling. You get to know so many people in the University and the town.
On the personal side, my parents are moving in with us from Memphis to help us raise Kay and Em. In addition, my wife’s family lives here and we so grateful for them as well.. Also, my wife is incredible. I would not have wanted to do this whole process with anyone else besides her. We now have two unbelievably resilient, beautiful, and smart little girls.”
Q: You do a lot of volunteer work for the CoSIDA All-America Committee. What motivated you to help out?
Griffith: “To be able to play a small part in the lives of our student-athletes means a lot to me. That’s my favorite aspect of the job. From 1999-2004, Murray State did not have a single Academic All-American. My predecessors Kevin Britton and John Brush got the ball rolling in terms of making sure our student-athletes are being nominated and promoted. Since I have been at Murray State, we have had 10 Academic All-Americans.
On the committee, I love talking about nominees and figuring out who to vote for and even the process of reviewing. However, I could not do what I do for the committee without great leadership at the top including our national coordinators, especially mine Dom Donnelly. Dom is so great to work with and is always there when I need him.
Click here to learn more about CoSIDA's Goodwill and Wellness initiatives and find out how YOU can get involved.