 "Photo: Stephanie Rendon")
 "Photo: Stephanie Rendon")
Misty Dawn was the name given to an abandoned baby left on a San Antonio roadside in 1989. Now, 18 years later, Misty Dawn is Kallie Marie Tuttle, and she is grateful for her mother's choice.
"I would tell her thank you," Kallie said. "Thank you for giving me a chance."
God gives an opportunity to each abandoned baby who is found, Kallie believes. She said she doesn't dwell on her beginning, but she accepts it.
"My past is who I am," Kallie said. "You can't really ignore it."
Kallie turned 18 this year and in June graduated from O'Connor High School. She is planning to attend Northwest Vista College in the fall, and then possibly transfer to a culinary arts school or Texas A&M University. She might enjoy a career as a pastry chef or making wedding cakes.
Even though Kallie didn't start life the way most people would want to begin their life, she never took her chance at life for granted.
"I've had a pretty normal life," she said.
Just as any teenage girl, Kallie loves to go shopping; she enjoys going horseback riding and maintains a job at Bill Miller Bar-B-Q. When she was in high school, Kallie participated in Future Farmers of America and color guard.
Kallie also likes to spend time with her boyfriend of two years, Wesley Oatman, 18, who also graduated from O'Connor High School and is planning to attend Texas A&M University.
As a baby, Kallie got a lot of publicity, but her friends never thought of her situation negatively.
"I thought they would have asked, 'How can your mom do that to you?' but they never did," she said.
Dave and Patti Tuttle, Kallie's adoptive parents, had a long history as foster parents when Misty Dawn came to them. They have always allowed Kallie to see her unique start in life. They kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings and pictures so Kallie would be able to see and understand her past.
When Kallie became a part of the Tuttle family just days after she was found on the roadside, she was their 43rd foster child and entered a family with two older brothers and an adopted sister, Nanci.
"We had heard of Misty Dawn on the radio and saw pictures of her on the news," Tuttle said. "Our family prayed for her and her future family."
Then the Tuttles got a call asking if they wanted to take another foster child - a baby girl. The family agreed, not knowing their new foster child was the abandoned baby on television.
The next day, 5-day-old Misty Dawn was brought into their home.
"She was a beautiful, tiny baby girl," Tuttle said. "She was a miracle."
The Tuttle's sons, Troy and Chad, who were 10 and 8 at the time, gave her the name Kallie Marie.
Just two weeks after Kallie met her new family, the Tuttles learned of another abandoned baby less fortunate than Kallie. The second baby had been found dead, and the Tuttles were able to give her a proper funeral, which people from the community attended to give their support.
"I remembered being heartbroken," Tuttle said. "I prayed for that birth mother who must have been so desperate."
In 1998, the Tuttle family was awarded the Angels in Adoption Award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute in Washington, D.C.
"Members of CCAI are able to honor foster parents by having them come to the capital for their good works and celebrate with a dinner," said Associate Director Chelsea Buffington. "It just takes one family like the Tuttles to create awareness to save a life."
The following year, Texas passed the Baby Moses Law, allowing mothers to leave an unharmed baby with an emergency provider without being criminally prosecuted. It was 10 years after Misty Dawn had been abandoned.
"Back in those days, Misty Dawn's situation was unheard of," said Mary Walker, public information officer of Child Protective Services. "It was bittersweet; there is an abandoned baby, but she's going to be OK."
The Tuttles' home in f is named His Glory Hill and is a witness to their strong faith. The family said they want to have a "great place [to live] where everyone is able to be themselves." They hope that the foster children who they bring into their home would feel "God's peace and joy about life."
"The more we fostered children, we realized it was a blessing," Patti Tuttle said. After already caring for 204 foster children, Tuttle said that they will not stop as long as Kallie is with them because it is something their family can do together.
Society tends to misunderstand birth mothers, but the ones who make that difficult decision to put their babies up for adoption makes them a hero, Tuttle said. Tuttle also considers Kallie's birth mother a hero for providing her the chance to live.
"My dream would be to meet Kallie's birth mother," Tuttle said. "I would tell her that I love her and tell her of the joy that Kallie brings."
The Tuttles credit their faith for their ability to meet the needs of so many children.
"God is the one that gives us strength, patience, excitement and passion, and when you have passion, you don't grow tired," Tuttle said.
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