It's strange how things happen.

We were a normal, happy family of five:  two parents, three children.  Our lives seemed happy, complete--that was, until three months ago, when our lives turned upside down, thanks to the arrival of the girls.

There were five of them, sisters, who came to our family.  Our lives haven't been the same since.  They were in need of a home, a family, they could call their own; they had no other place to go so this is why they came here, to our home.

The girls came to us from Georgia.  All were in the foster care system:  their parents abandoned them, and it was reported that they'd been physically abused.  It showed in their skittish, nervous personalities:  they hardly smiled, and if we tried to reprimand them for any infractions, they acted like we were going to murder them.  It was really sad.

Now I am happy to say that they are starting to settle down.  They are starting to assimilate into our family, have even taken to calling us their mom and dad, and their brother and sisters their siblings. 

So now we have eight children:  seven girls, one lone boy.  Our children range in age from fifteen down to two.  Their names are Ebony* (15), Ericka* (14), Regan (13), Ella* (12), Gretchen (11), Paulie (9), Esme'* (4), and Evonne*(2). 

We get a lot of stares from people whenever we go out because five of our eight children are black.  That doesn't bother us in the least:  we see them as our own children, and we give them as much love as we do our own birth children.  They needed help, so we opened our hearts (and homes) to accomodate them; it is a decision that we haven't regretted for a minute, although things have gotten rather chaotic!

Hopefully within the next frew months, we will be granted permanent custody of the five sisters; if so, it will be a dream come true , and they will, at long last, have the family they've always hoped for. 

And we will have five more girls to raise!

*Not children's real names; names protected for identity purposes.