I had a meeting with our case worker pretty soon after our first girl was moved. I don’t remember why. As with a lot of times in my life, my mouth running without my brain engaged changed the course of our lives forever.

I had been thinking about our experience to that point. She asked me if I would like to change anything about our preferences. I knew already that I didn’t want to go through the process repeatedly. I also knew that one month at home all day with a three year old made me want backup. So I told her that we would accept siblings.

Forty-seven days after losing our first girl the phone rang again. This time she had sisters for us. Again, her request was that we be there in an hour. This time when we got there we were taken into a room with another couple and an older woman. Apparently, there were 5 siblings and they were being split 3 directions. If I had a magic wand, I would go back to a time where we could have chosen to accept a large sibling group. I wish now that we had taken all 5. That just isn’t how it happened.

We got there before the children did. We were briefed in more detail about what had lead to them being removed. What we experienced next is forever burned into my mind’s eye. The three oldest siblings were brought into the office where we were. They had been picked up from school and had nothing but the clothes they were in. They were crying. They stood kinda like nesting dolls. The littlest was tucked behind her sister and their brother stood in front, protecting his sisters. He was valiant… and 7.

We left soon after that with both girls. The two youngest siblings went to a home together and that valiant 7 year old went to a home alone. The girls didn’t fully grasp what was going on. We took them home briefly because we had a small group meeting that same night. I’ll never forget the reaction of the oldest upon entering our home. She was happy that they had a room together and their very own bathroom that they didn’t have to share with anyone. She was wide-eyed in approval. That made me sad because we had a 1,600 square foot home. It was nice but it wasn’t the mansion she seemed to think it was. I also remember asking her how to correctly say her sister’s name. It figured that none of the adults they had met that day, until me, cared to be pronouncing her name correctly. That made me mad. If you can yank them out of their school and hand them over to live with complete strangers, the least you can do is know how to say their names. But, that is the foster care system.

After the stop at the house, the four of us went to our small group meeting. After small group we went to WalMart to buy basically everything they needed to get through the first few days, clothes, toothbrushes, hairbrush, etc. We then launched into life together.

There is much I won’t say about the rest of the story. I do, however, want to tell you more. In the coming post or two I will try to hit some high spots. I want to tell you about the parts that you don’t hear much of from anyone. Those will be the hardest for me to share. May the force be with me.