Stories of Love...
 My husband Kip and I after 4 years of foster care had decided
to take a break. We had adopted 3 children and our home and our
hearts seemed full. We did occasional respite for a friend, so
we kept our license up. After almost a year on a Thursday night
in May we received a call to do an emergency very short term placement
for a seven year-old girl (we will call her Emily) and her four
year-old brother (we will call him Andy) until their relatives
background check came back, we agreed. When they first arrived
they were very scared, shy, completely introverted and deeply sad.
They walked with shoulders hunched over, head down, they never
smiled and barely spoke. We fed them dinner (which they hungrily
devoured in huge quantities); read them stories gave them a bath
and clean pajamas. But Emily seemed reluctant to put the nightgown
on. When she finally came out of the bathroom she had put back
on all of her very dirty clothes (including the shoes) and then
put the nightgown over top. We were needless to say more that a
bit surprised. When I gently asked her why she simply said I always
go to bed like this.
That first night when we had hugged and kissed our other children
goodnight they had just sat and stared at us as if we were doing
something very foreign. Then when I tucked Emily and Andy into
bed (shoes and all) I asked if I could give them a hug goodnight.
It was the first time I had seen a spark in their eyes and a hint
of a smile as they both nodded yes. After reading a story I turned
the night light on started to leave and immediately tears began
flow. So I sat beside them quietly reading stories until they fell
asleep. Even though they were completely exhausted their fear kept
them awake until long after midnight. Over the next few days we spent a lot of one on one time with
the kids telling them how special they were, praising them and
letting them know how smart and pretty they were. We also continually
reassured them that our house was a safe place and that no one
would ever hurt them here. Very slowly they began to open up like
rose petals in the warm afternoon sun. We began to see more and
more smiles, they began to openly give us hugs without us asking.
Over the weekend I took the kids shopping for clothes (something
they had never done before). Emily was so excited she was literally
bouncing all over the store. Andy just kept grinning ear to ear
and loved everything he saw (I have to admit I enjoyed it too,
and I definitely spent much more than their $100 clothing allowances). On Monday when I brought Emily back to her school where several
of the teachers, the principal and her counselor all came out to
meet me. They thanked me for giving her a safe place to stay and
told me several stories about her 1 ½ years there. Most
were very sad, some even devastating including the fact that she
had never smiled not even once the entire time she went to school
there. Emily had also rarely spoken a word, and another story that
truly touched me and let me know why she was always so very hungry
was them telling me about very small kindergarten child (Emily)
who brought the same peanut butter sandwich to school day after
day keeping it safe and guarded in her small coat pocket. She was
very careful to only take two small bites everyday for breakfast
and again for lunch, coming back again the next day to again take
those same two small bites out of a slowly deteriorating peanut
butter sandwich. It took the school staff months to convenience
her it was okay to eat breakfast and lunch at school for free. I left the school that morning even more committed to helping
these two little waifs in my care. I spent the day taking Andy
and my other three children to the park near Emily’s school.
After a picnic lunch and bringing the little ones home for naps
with my husband, I left to go pick Emily up from school. Nothing
could have prepared me for the reception I received at her school.
Almost immediately after walking in the front door I was surrounded
by secretaries, teachers, the principal and Emily’s counselor.
They were all smiling and laughing and patting me on the back.
It took me a moment to realize what they were talking about as
they were all talking at once. They were telling me that sweet
little Emily had been smiling all day, and talking up a storm!
They couldn’t believe their eyes. The principal followed
me to her classroom where as soon as I opened the door and Emily
saw me, she leaped out of her chair raced across the room darting
in between desks, backpacks and children that seemed to be everywhere
to quickly leap into my arms hugging me and laughing, a sound that
was so beautiful to my ears it could have been the most magnificent
music ever written. For the next five days we saw even more transformations happen
with both Emily and Andy, they were like frightened little caterpillars
that had finally come out of their cocoon to discover they were
beautiful butterflies. Emily had finally stopped wearing shoes
to bed and we traded her jeans for a pair of tights. Andy was talking
laughing and playing like a normal 4 year old boy. When it was
time to say goodbye I won’t lie it was very emotional both
sad to see them go, and also happy for them to be going somewhere
nice. Their aunt agreed to bring Emily and Andy to visit often,
as they had become such good friends with our children. She was
so amazed at the change in both kids she said it was if the children
she had loved all of their lives had somehow been completely reborn
and had blossomed. She said she didn’t know how to thank
us enough for giving her and them the gift of love, happiness,
and no fear. When they left Kip and I both realized that we could no longer
turn away the children who so desperately needed a home whether
it was for a day or for forever we would always try to keep a bed
open to any child who needed it. Within a month we received another
desperate call at 4:00 on a Friday afternoon, the placement worker
told us there were twenty children under the age of three with
no beds for the night, let alone the weekend. Two hours later Cassie
came into our lives, a beautiful blond haired 20-month-old angel.
It was suppose to be for 4-6 months. Now we are adopting her too
this summer. We still keep a bed open just incase another Emily,
Andy, or Cassie needs a warm bed a full tummy and safe nights sleep. Always remember that no matter what you do small or large it always
makes a difference in lives of these children.
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