I often end up talking to strangers about their adoption stories or their experiences as foster parents or foster children. No kidding, it happens A LOT.
Recently, I went to a new hair dresser for a hair cut and in the course of the conversation she ended up telling me that she was adopted from foster care. She had an interesting story. She seemed kind of sad. Most of the people that I talk to don't seem sad, but she did.
The hair dresser had lived in a foster home that had a lot of other children. She really liked her foster parents but they weren't interested in ever adopting, so she was waiting to be matched with adoptive parents. She lived in the foster home until she was five years old. While she was there, she became very close to a little boy that was about her age. The foster parents pushed for them to be adopted together.
The girl and her friend did get adopted into the same family. There was an older sister in the family who had been adopted several years before; she didn't like the two new kids. The hair dresser was old enough to remember the whole adoption experience. She said she felt scared and unhappy for a long time. She missed her foster family. As an adult, her brother (the friend from the foster home) is still the person she's closest with. It sounded like they have a special bond.
The happy part of her story is that she got to grow up with her friend and that her foster family had cared enough about them both to keep them together. I'm sure there's so much more to her story than what she told me-- I hope she can find a way not to be sad forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment