Taking On New Responsibilities, Foster Care

I ran into an old friend recently.  She is about the same age as I am and has 5 children.  3 of her children are grown and gone.  They actually have grandchildren.  She still has 2 at home that are in school.  Out of the blue this couple received a call saying their godchildren were in need.  The parents lost parental rights and needed somewhere to live.  If the godparents did not take them the children would be divided up and put in foster homes across the county.  The children are all under five years old. 

Now before you say, “I would take them in a heartbeat”, think about this.  I have not been able to stop thinking about it.  See at some point in life we all might have said yes to being godparents.  I mean who can resist the sweet, “cooing or gooing of a precious newborn baby.  Then the mom and dad look at you and say, “would accept the privilege of being our godparents?”  That is pretty hard to turn down.  I remember asking my sister and brother in law the same question years ago.  They did not have any children then.  They also continued through life to love my children like they were their own, even after theirs came along.  So you march down to the church and accept the honor of being godparents or you have your name actually put in a will that states the responsibility you accepted. Maybe not really thinking about the events in life that lead up to the moment someone may call you and say, “can you raise these children?”  Not really knowing what might happen over the course of years.  You people are so mobile now that you may not even see the children again for a very long time.

That is exactly what happen to my friend.  The families lost contact with each other.  The events of life got really hard for these young parents and for whatever reason their children suffered.  The children suffered to the point that a phone call was made and the question was asked, “Can you assume responsibility for your three godchildren?”  Now in that moment you might easily say yes absolutely.  I accepted that possibility a long time ago and now I am ready to take it on, but living the reality of that is a lot different.

When my four children out grew their cribs, car seats and potty chairs I got rid of them.  When the last one finished elementary school I may have cried for about 3 minutes then did the happy dance. When the last one got married I cried like a baby, really, but I was also ready for the next chapter in our lives.  I do not miss sitting at the kitchen table trying to do an assignment of spelling words that should take 5 minutes but takes 60 minutes instead.  I really do not miss putting together an Egyptian pyramid or building a race car out of recycled materials.  I really don’t!  What I do hope about myself though, is at that moment is someone called me and said,  “Will you take these 3 children and give them a home?”  Whether temporary or permanent.  I hope I could muster up enough strength and courage to take that responsibility on again.  Would it be easy at my age, no, but  I hope I would accept the challenge.

As I looked at this foster mom I was in awe of her.  I kept thinking and wondering how she was going to do it all over again.  Her courage and resilience amazed me.  She told me she did not hesitate to accept this challenge and by the way, she works full time also.  In the end I believe it is like so many other things in life we are called to do.  Once we accept the task at hand we have to set goals and press on towards the cause.  She accepted the challenge of offering 3 small children a place of rest, love and solace.  3 little people that do not understand the struggle their adult parents are having and being caught in the middle.  This foster mom is a real life hero to me.  She is wonder woman.

I hope to keep you updated on what is going on with this situation.  I was thinking about interviewing her and asking the challenges of taking this on as an older mom.  Let me know if you are interested.  Honestly, Janet