CAP CADET JONATHAN WINSLOW TAKING FLIGHT AS NEW U.S. CITIZEN

Jonathan, Glenn, and Mary Winslow

CAP CADET JONATHAN WINSLOW TAKING FLIGHT AS NEW U.S. CITIZEN

By Michael Moffett

BARNSTEAD, N.H. – As young Jonathan Winslow was interested in flying, the 13-year-old happily accepted a scholarship to attend the Ace Academy’s summer flying program at Laconia Airport in 2016. And the more he learned, the more excited he became about flying.

The adopted son of Glen and Mary Winslow, Jonathan is one of those youngsters with ambition and a sense of adventure who is willing to work at actually getting to the heavens as opposed to just observing the sky from the safety of Belknap County’s terra firma.

The Ace Academy experience enabled Jonathan to meet Captain Julie Panus of the New Hampshire Civil Air Patrol (CAP). A senior member of the Lakes Region’s Hawk Composite Squadron, Panus put in a plug for her unit and encouraged Jonathan to consider the CAP experience.

“My brother, Michael Meserve, was a Civil Air Patrol Cadet in Rochester,” said mother Mary Winslow. “He loved Civil Air Patrol, so Glen and I were delighted that Captain Panus alerted Jonathan as to the opportunities available in joining Hawk Squadron.”

The Hawk Composite Squadron is one of several squadrons that make up the New Hampshire Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, a non-profit organization that’s the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. The CAP squadrons are committed to three core missions: Aerospace Education, Cadet Programs, and Emergency Services.

“Jonathan went on-line and learned about Civil Air Patrol and wanted to know more,” explained Mary. “After attending a Hawk Squadron Open House at Holy Trinity School in Laconia he knew he wanted to join, which he did in October of last year.”

Now a senior airman (looking for promotion) with Hawk Squadron, Jonathan wants to be an Air Force pilot.

So can Jonathan acquire the “right stuff” that pilots famously need to succeed? Time will tell, but if he’s anything like his parents he already has lots of right stuff.

ADOPTING ANGELS

Angels are also believed to take wing from time to time, as evidenced by the wonderful work that Glen and Mary have done as parents. The two met in Deerfield, and after dating for five years they were married on Sept. 10, 1988. Daughters Brittany and Madelyn were born in 1990 and 1995 respectively.

Possessors of strong social consciences, the Winslows became aware that not every youngster was lucky enough to be born and brought up into a safe loving environment the way Brittany and Madelyn were. So in 1998 Glen and Mary trained to be foster parents so they might be eligible to bring a less fortunate child into their home.

After moving to Barnstead in 2001, they reviewed some photos of Haitian children posted by an American adoption agency, and they both independently focused on Grace, an eight-year-old who was in an orphanage near Port-au-Prince. Mary went to Haiti in August of 2004 to make arrangements for Grace, but while at the orphanage she saw Jonathan, then a starving one-year-old who only weighed ten pounds.

“I couldn’t believe he was that old,” said Mary. “He was so tiny. I knew we had to try to help him.”

Mary tackled the necessary administrative requirements and arranged for health care and by June of 2005 Grace and Jonathan were ready to travel to America. Mary returned to Haiti with Madelyn to get the new Winslow family additions but got stuck there for 16 days as Haiti was in the midst of a coup.

“White people were being kidnapped or robbed, as they were thought to be rich,” recalled Mary. “I did have a bunch of cash on me for the adoption transactions so I was quite nervous. But Ernst, our interpreter, found us a driver who drove a really beat up, crappy car, and no one bothered us.”

Mary and Madelyn spent what they had to, which combined with prayers positioned them to return home to New Hampshire on July 7, 2005, with Grace and Jonathan.

The adventure was exacting, but adding two children to the Winslow family proved exciting and rewarding. So Glen and Mary decided that their family had room for more. New Hampshire’s Division for Children, Youth, and Families helped the Winslows identify adoption candidates in greater Laconia and in 2010 they adopted eleven year-old twins Edward and Elisha. Nicole followed in 2011, which then gave Glen and Mary seven children.

Despite the fact that the Winslows lived in a small house, they made things work for their growing family. A self-employed carpenter, Glen worked hard to help pay the bills while Mary homeschooled the youngsters. Glen cashed in his retirement accounts to help pay for the adoptions and the family seemed to always find a way to make things work.

“God provides,” explained Mary.

But they weren’t done yet. Not at all.

On January 21, 2012 a little girl was born drug-addicted in Manchester’s Elliot hospital, the sixth child to a mom who needed help, and to a father who was incarcerated. Enter the Winslows. Soon Rosalinda Marguerita had a new home in Barnstead.

Having adopted kids from Haiti, Laconia, and Manchester, the Winslows turned their sites to Bulgaria, where adoption agencies were trying to place children in dire need. Mary found her way to the Balkans and the Winslows added three more children, Zoey, Jeremiah, and Joyanna.

Zoey was six years old and not much more than ten pounds, and despite Mary’s best efforts, he didn’t make it. But in 2014 Jeremiah (10) and Joyanna (7) were safe in New Hampshire.

Jeremiah flourished and learned American lessons quickly, first from Mary and then at Prospect Mountain High School. Joyanna also did well as a new Granite Stater, but struggled with some health challenges—consequences of some dubious medical practices in Bulgaria.

In November of 2015 (National Adoption Month) the Winslows met Amy, then 26, and working at a Wendy’s restaurant. A victim of abuse years earlier, Amy sought stability, a measure of which Glen and Mary realized they could provide. What followed was a non-traditional consensual adult adoption. While Amy now lives on her own in Concord, she is now part of the Winslow family with all its associated love and support.

ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE

Particularly aware of how many children need help around the world, and by now experts in the international adoption processes, the Winslows inevitably were alerted about situations where youngsters needed help. Glen and Mary often provided people with advice and guidance on adoption matters and helped connect prospective parents and prospective adoptees with the proper authorities or resources necessary to save lives. And despite the size of their family in 2017, the Winslows returned to Bulgaria when they became aware of a particularly needy child.

Enter Annabella, also known as “Peppy.”

Peppy was a six-year-old with Down’s Syndrome who was in dire need in a Bulgarian group home, after an horrific experience at an orphanage. When no one else would help, the Winslows knew they had to.

Now nine years old, Peppy is a happy Granite Stater.

Given the international flavor of the Winslow household, Mary has put the sign language skills she learned at UNH-Manchester to good use.

“Not only is sign language useful with our less verbal kids, but it’s a useful skill for our kids who also love to talk,” said Mary.

SUCCESS AND SORROW

A big family means lots of work, but also lots of joy and laughter, at least with parents like Glen and Mary. But inevitably there are also those stressful and sad days.

Like when Joyanna died. 

The little girl came down with a fever associated with foot reconstructive surgery and those prior Bulgarian medical practices. On July 20, 2019, her heart stopped beating.

Her life was honored and celebrated at a funeral which was held in a Pittsfield church and attended by around 500 mourners.

“Jonathan’s fellow Civil Air Patrol cadets showed up in uniform,” said Mary. “It was very moving and impressive.”

CITIZENSHIP

All of which brings us to November 5, 2019, and the United States Customs and Immigration Services building in Bedford, N.H., where 16-year-old Jonathan Winslow would complete the last requirement for full American citizenship.

It was a big day for the Civil Air Patrol cadet, and an important step forward on a journey that Jonathan hopes will see him realize his dream of becoming an Air Force pilot. Family members and friends were there of course, most prominently being Glen and Mary, exuding that special and positive aura of serenity that so often marks people of faith. And as people of faith, they believed that somehow little Joyanna was also witnessing and celebrating right along with them.

The Civil Air Patrol may have given Jonathan Winslow the opportunity to fly, but it was Glen and Mary Winslow who gave him wings!

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(Michael Moffett is a columnist for the Weirs Times, a retired Marine Corp officer, and a Senior Member and Lieutenant Colonel with the New Hampshire Civil Air Patrol.)

"The Winslows!"