A single day can shape an entire life.
Today I had lunch with my boys' older sister. R doesn't live with us, but we have stayed in pretty close contact with her since I adopted the boys. She comes over once or twice a month, and we keep in touch with her by phone, facebook and email.Today R and I had lunch.
Somehow, we got on the subject of the day the four siblings were put into foster care. R was seven and she remembers more than my boys, who were 4 and 2 at the time. R remembers being in someone else's apartment, she thinks they were babysitting her. She could look out the window and see where her mom parked. At one point, she saw her mom's car and went back to her apartment. Her mom wasn't there. R remembers that the police came to the door, and that a social worker came and told R and three of the boys to pack up their stuff. She remembers her mom showing up at some point and everyone crying and screaming as they went from the apartment to the car. They went from the apartment to Denver Human Services and then drove a long, long way to a foster home. That first night, R was supposed to sleep in a room with another girl. All three of her brothers were in what sounded like a dormitory room in the garage or off the garage. R had never been away from her brothers and was missing her mom, so she found her way to the boys' room, and slept with them. She remembers doing that every single night they were in that home.
That single day, probably more than any other, has shaped four kids' lives…
It seems as if you have become an ally for this child too, although she doesn't live with you. It's a great thing, being an ally for someone. You wrote this with such sympathy for those memories.
ReplyDeleteMy foster daughter, now 25, has a similar story. She was 8, her brother 9 thought they were going to a hotel for a get away weekend. Instead, her mom said she had to make a stop (police station). She left them there. K remembers standing in a room waiting for her mom to come back with her swimmys on her arms. She will admit that she has spent most of her life waiting and hoping that her mom would come back. Her mom has lost all 4 of her children. The youngest, now 8 and 12 have been adopted. I have loved your slice of life stories Carol.
ReplyDeleteNanc, this story that breaks my heart…
ReplyDelete