I started a new job a little over 5 months ago. Transitioning from sports entertainment to foster care has been interesting to say the least. I was the board president for Parents by Choice for several years. And yet I didn't really get it. Well I'm getting it now. We currently serve about 110 children from the age of a few weeks to 18 years old. One hundred and ten children who, through NO FAULT of their own are put into "the system". I don't know all 110 -26 are in Solano County, but I have had the privilege of meeting many of them. Each one is special and wonderful. I look at their faces and have fallen in love with them. And then there are the ones we have lost. There was one young man who I heard about just as I started. He had been in foster care for awhile and was a heroin addict. It broke my heart and I continue to pray for him.
There is a family of three boys who would be a handful for any family, but their smiles would melt a snowman's heart. Some of the children arrive for their visits ahead of their biological parents which gives us time to hang out together.
One afternoon, I had a baby on my lap, two children running through the office and the phone was ringing. A vendor came in to pitch her office supply company. The look on her face when she walked through the doors was priceless. I'm sure she had no clue what she was walking into, but I was in my element!
Today, Tony (my boss) gave me a 30 day devotional written by a pediatrician who works with foster children. She shares stories of her experiences and each one brought a tear. Tony told me his job was to make me a cry at least once a day and he is succeeding!
The tears are truly mixed emotions. I am so blessed to spend time with these precious children, foster families, biological parents who are working hard to earn their children back, and social workers who work tirelessly to make sure the families and children have what they need. We have a great support staff too who keep the office running.
The difficult part is knowing the stories of not only the children, but the biological families. There is so much loss and pain. We have a dad who has worked incredibly hard to be reunited. When he graduated from his program, the foster dad brought the man's children to the ceremony and stayed. The foster dad was touched by the positive things said about the dad by his instructors and fellow students. The dad has been granted unsupervised visits with his children. Reunification is within view. And as much as I will miss those beautiful faces, it will be a good thing for them to be a family again.
Being a foster parent is one of the most heroic things a person/family can do. To take someone else's child or children and care for them, love them, and then let them go takes a truly amazing person. They are true heroes.
There are more stories to share, but I'll leave you with this... we are all looking for one thing - to feel loved, unconditionally loved. So love one another, be kind to those you encounter. Behind that mask could be someone whose life you could impact.
Blessings,
Linda
Thoughts from me....
