adoption

“I suppose that’s the biggest part of being an adopted child—

knowing you were wanted that badly, that completely.

It can be the most sturdy of bonds.”

Genuine Lies

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Why adoptive parents like Sandra Bullock feel that 'the perfect child will find you'

Sandra Bullock and Hoda Kotb share a special connection — both agree they were destined for motherhood by adopting their children.

YAHOO!

open letter to the foster parents

Seth stuck his hands in his pockets and lifted his chin. He didn't want to be there, didn't want to talk to anybody. 
At Grace's he'd been able to just sit on her little stoop, be alone with his thoughts. 
Even when she'd come out for a little while and sat beside him with Aubrey on her knee, 
she'd let him be.
Because she understood he'd wanted to be quiet.


Sea Swept

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By Mferr020 at en.wikibooks, CC BY-SA 3.0, 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9097807

What I hope is that by sharing the tips for foster parents that follow — what hurt and what helped — I can ease the delicate transition from “home” to “foster home."

Here's what I really wish I could have said to those foster parents:

SheKnows

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The smile, Phillip noted, came much more quickly and easily than it had a few months before. But there was a gap in it.
"Hey." Phillip butted a finger on the bill of the cap. "Lose something?"
"Huh?"
Phillip tapped a finger against his own straight, white teeth.
"Oh, yeah." With a typical Quinn shrug, Seth grinned, pushing his tongue into the gap. His face was fuller than it had been six months before, and his eyes less wary.



Inner Harbor

Cheers to all Happy Begginings created by Nora Roberts

Their pinched faces, the bruises, the fear—and worse, the dull acceptance in their eyes—tormented her.


Sea Swept

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Growing up in a foster care system isn’t a walk in the park. It’s more like a walk down a pretty dark alley in the middle of a rainstorm. 

WIMP

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"When you're a child, you do nothing," she said flatly. "You're at the mercy of adults, and the reality is, a great many adults have no mercy."


Nightshade

10 tips for adopting a cat

"Shane. Rumor is, you've got kittens."
Shane grinned down at Bryan. "Talked her into it, huh?"
All innocence, Bryan shrugged, but his quick, triumphant grin betrayed him.

 "She needs company when I'm at school."
"That's a good one."

The Pride of Jared MacKade

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Learn 10 tips you should consider when adopting a cat,
courtesy of the American Humane Association.

BOSTON

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"You could take two." Jared stepped into the stall. 

Her face, he thought, was an open book. "It's nice for them to have company."
"Two?" The idea burst like a thousand watts in Bryan's brain.
"Yeah, Mom, we'll take two. One would be lonely!"
"Bry-"
"And it wouldn't be any more trouble. We've got lots of room
now. Cal's going to want somebody to play with, to hang around with."

"And anyway," Bryan went on, because he'd come out of his
own excitement long enough to see the way his mother was
cuddling the orange kitten, "this way we could each pick one.
That's the fair way, right?"

The Pride of Jared MacKade