I’m one of the lucky ones.
I had dreamt of being a mama since I was a little girl. After college, I married my high school sweetheart. Within a few months, I was pregnant with a sweet baby boy. In the next five years, I gave birth to two little girls.
They’re some of the lucky ones.
My children were healthy and happy. They had everything they needed and most of what they wanted. They never went hungry. They were never mistreated. Their hardships were few. They have gone on to have beautiful families of their own.
Not every child is so lucky.
My own nest had been empty for several years when I read a story about a local child whose parents had cared more about drugs than her. I can’t bear to repeat it here but, by the tender age of three, she had known more heartache than you can imagine. I knew what I had to do.
I am one of the lucky ones.
In the eight years I have been a foster parent, I have been given more than twenty children to love. It’s not easy. Sometimes it feels downright impossible. But they have taught me far more than I could have ever taught them. On top of patience, persistence, and perseverance, I am reminded each and every day to be grateful and kind.
I have been given love.