Roya D. Shihady, (Dee) is the retired owner and Executive Director of Crystal Adoptions. “Dee had an uncanny ability to connect quickly and on the deepest level. It's easy to trust her, she really cares,” says Mark, her husband, "she tended to form deep personal relationships with clients which is unusual in business today." This practice actually encouraged others to bond. Some relationships reach years past the adoption process; a type of virtual family that provides support for each other. This was how the program More Than a Momcame to be. It was designed to encourage these healthy, supportive relationships whether adopting, placing or parenting. Today MoreThanAMom is the business name she publishes under. "The plan," she hopes, is to someday use this business to encourage other mothers in pursuits past motherhood, such as writing." Dee believes in the soul's pure potential. She, herself, received her Associates in Business at the age of 37, with 6 children in the home and her bachelor’s in education a few years later, as a single parent. She has a boundless passion, writing or speaking, for educating adults on how to nurture the best in children and in bringing the family closer. She has been an instructor, voice teacher, a step-parent, foster parent and now grandmother of eighteen. "It seems I've always worked with families throughout my life," she smiles. In 2015 she and her husband Mark became official "empty-nesters" and Dee started work on two more books. One about adoption and one about (surprise!) her family. Wondering which will be finished first, Dee chuckles, "You always think things will get easier if you can just make it 'til they turn 18, but parenting adult children can be a hair-raising experience too! And then mom moves in". Author Contact Email:writedee@homemail.com Website: www.deeshihady.com Facebook: deeshihady Pinterest: @deeshihady Instagram: @waltziedee
