December 14th. That is a date I’m sure I will never forget. It is the day we got the first call. My phone rang early afternoon and it was a caseworker informing me that she had a little girl for us. She told me all about her. She then asked if we would take her. I remember thinking that was the dumbest question I have ever heard. Of course, our answer was yes. She then asked if we could be there in an hour.

     We then went into a hard scramble. We had waited a year. We had planned to switch out a bed with a friend that would be better for the room we had set up. We hadn’t yet accomplished that. We asked for an extra couple of hours and ran to switch beds. Then we went to pick up our girl.

     I think Hubby Guy would agree that we felt excited. Not long after we arrived that word was replaced with a myriad of much less happy words. A few things we felt were extreme sadness, pity, fear, and hope. It was the first time I felt the duality of roles when foster parenting. We were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to be the best parents ever, but that may have been the worst day of her life. There’s a dichotomy there that’s impossible to sort out emotionally. AND, that is what sets the scene for whatever becomes of your family life. It is so unfair. Unfortunately, the reality with foster parenting is there is a large percentage chance that the little person who comes into your home won’t get to stay and be yours. So how do you live?

     That evening we met the most precious-faced 3-year-old we had ever seen. We immediately fell full-on in love with her. We watched the apprehension on her face. She was smart and knew something was up. We drove around back so we could collect her black garbage bag of belongings. I watched her throw herself on that bag and start screaming “mine!”. It felt like a gut punch. We ended up with her and her belongings in the truck and headed toward home. It was painful and scary for me. I CANT EVEN imagine what she felt.

     I think it was fortunate for all three of us that she was so smart. She asked good questions. She was also unbelievably brave and resilient. She whimpered a little on the way home but rebounded into a bundle of joy and happiness.  We had her for exactly a month. We had her through Christmas. She went to a family placement on January 14th.

     We found out about three days in advance that she was being moved. We were crushed. She had us both wrapped around her tiny little pinkies. We were ready to raise her as ours and spoil her all the way rotten. I’ll never forget the last Sunday we had her at church. All of our friends loved her too and were devastated. The Pastor prayed for our family and Hubby Guy cried the entire service. It was awful!

     That child will be forever mine. I knew I would love her forever, but I had to let her go. That was our short initiation to foster care. I am happy to report, though, that she was ultimately adopted into another family where she is very loved and well taken care of. We have reconnected through our youngest and she has actually been to our house as a teenager. It is indeed a small world.