I’m convinced I have the best job in the world. I wouldn’t have wanted to do this all my professional career, but as a part-time, retirement job, it’s the best. I have the chance to meet wonderful men and women who volunteer to defend our country and the free world.
Recently I saw a young man (19 y/o) who, along with his two brothers, had been adopted some years ago. He was 13 at the time and his brothers were 15 and 11. The boys had been taken away from their alcoholic, drug addicted mother. Dad left before this son had a chance to know him.
His new family was headed by a single man whom all the sons loved. Here is a boy who lived his early childhood without a dad and spent years in foster homes. He enjoyed his high school years, played sports, had a decent GPA, worked for a year, and decided to become a Marine.
I wish you could all meet him. He had an infectious smile, a great attitude of gratitude, and was the boy every family wants to have. I kept think how lucky these boys were to have been found by a generous, hard-working, loving man, and how lucky he was to have found them! Some years ago I might have questioned the wisdom of allowing a single man or woman to adopt kids; kids need both parents, I would argue. But things and attitudes change. Kids still need two parents, but one good parent is better than no parents, and much better that two “not-good” parents.
Many would also argue that adopting pre-teens and teenagers is not wise. While that may be true in some cases, this family proves otherwise. The success of any adoption depends on the attitudes of the parents and the kids.
His story sent me to the web to see how many older kids are waiting adoption. I found there are way too many. One national organization – AdoptUSKids, had this to say: “Of the 415,000 children in the U.S. foster care system, 108,000 children under the age of 18 are currently waiting for adoptive families, according to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS). Since the AdoptUSKids project began in 2002, 25,000 children who were once photo listed on adoptuskids.org are now with their adoptive families and nearly 38,000 families have registered to adopt through AdoptUSKids. 41 percent of the approximately 5,360 youth listed on the website are aged between 15 and 18 years old.”
To see some of those in Tennessee go to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services: http://www.adoptuskids.org/states/tn/browse.aspx. Let me warn you, seeing them will tear your heart out.
If only we were younger, we would pursue adoption. I am sure many of you will feel the same way. If you can take that heroic step, or know someone who can, you will be part of a miracle for a kid and perhaps a whole family of siblings!
Those of us who cannot, for whatever reason, could make a donation to one of the agencies in lieu of committing to adopting. And all of us can say a prayer for those families who adopt older kids.
I’m convinced I have the best job in the world. I wouldn’t have wanted to do this all my professional career, but as a part-time, retirement job, it’s the best. I have the chance to meet wonderful men and women who volunteer to defend our country and the free world.