Louisa Maria Meyers

Born:     August 4, 1994

Adoption Date: August 29, 2000

Anniversary:     May 9, 2015

Parents:     Ed Franklin (Father), Judy Franklin (Mother)

Siblings:     Grace Wayne, Hope Harris, Joy Franklin-O’Neil

Spouse:     Benjamin Meyers

Children:     Dantel Meyers, Raven Meyers

Photo Gallery:     Franklin Family Album

Bio: Louisa was born on the streets of California to a poverty stricken mother who already had four other children. When she was very young, she suffered an earache, which went untreated and cost her most of her hearing. Unable to hear her mother or siblings, she barely learned to speak, and was considered ‘dumb’ and a burden by her biological family. One day, her mother left her in the care of an old woman who lived in an alley and never returned. After three days of sleeping in a cardboard box, the old woman took Louisa to a homeless shelter. From the shelter, she was transferred to a hospital, where she was treated for malnourishment and the true extent of her hearing loss was discovered.

Ed and Judy Franklin first heard about Louisa from Ed’s cousin Cora, a nurse who worked at the hospital and couldn’t wait to tell her family about the little girl. After several phone calls, a few shared pictures, and a lot of praying, the Franklins went to California as a family to meet the little girl who would become their daughter. They arrived to find Louisa at the epicenter of a legal battle between those who claimed she was an illegal who needed deported and those who believed it likely that she was born in the US, and therefore a citizen by right. Their stay in California lasted from June to August 2010, during which time they lived in a hotel close to the hospital. While Ed and Judy went rounds with the hospital, CPS and Immigration, their daughter Joy bonded with Louisa and struggled to find a way to communicate with the little girl.

When the adoption finally went through, the Franklins’ brought Louisa went home to Indiana, where they continued to teach her sign language and English to go with the broken Spanish she already knew. At first, she bonded to Joy and it took months to give her trust or her heart to her new parents. She especially mistrusted Judy because of the abuse she suffered at the hand of her biological mother.

In school, Louisa fought to catch up to other kids her own age, even to the point of attending summer school so she wouldn’t be felt behind. She excelled in art classes, but turned to photography as a form of expression. Through the camera lens, she found she could say more than she could with words.

In December of 2005, she meets the other side to her adopted mother’s family and is welcomed with unconditional love which was never available in her past. Through them, especially Janet O’Neil, she is encouraged to focus on her art and eventually goes to college with the hopes of becoming a professional photographer. Her works have been featured in newspaers, magazines, prominent museums and websites.