Dr. Dixie van de Flier Davis
It’s So Difficult to Wait
None of us likes to wait. Being put on hold when we call for information. Standing in line to buy a ticket. Listening for our name to be called for a restaurant table.
The kids in foster care don’t like wafting either.
Michael was 10 years old when he wrote this poem. The first stanzas remind us of how he felt.
Even though there’s lots of things
He knows he will never have – mostly it’s ok.
But one thing makes him sad.
He checks every face and wonders
Could this one be his dad?
His foster parents love him, his caseworker is good.
But he would pick a forever dad
He wishes that he could!
The latest national data tell us that the average child in foster care is eight years old and has waited 24.6 months since termination of parental rights.
That’s two more birthdays and two more Thanksgivings .. going on three .. after being legally free for adoption. They were already in foster care before that milestone made them free for adoption. And now, two and a half years later, they still wait.
Waiting since they were just six years old. Checking every face, and wondering…
Michael completed his poem with these last two verses.
And now they have the same last name
The judge says the adoption is final
That can never change!
They go fishing and play baseball – football is very fun
That’s the kind of stuff dads do with their son.
They have a lot of fun together
He won’t let him be bad.
He will love him forever
Because he is a FOREVER dad!
At last Michael’s long, long wait is over.
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Tags: adopt, Adopt waiting children, Adopting, Adoption Exchange, Adoption Lives Transformed, Adoption Stories, adoptive families, Child Welfare League, Children's Charities, Dixie van de Flier, Foster Care Adoption, The Adoption Exchange, Wednesday's Child