A Family Made Out Of Miracles And Rainbows

Part Two: The Family Grows And Grows! (Continued)

Chapter Ten:

I.)  Fuel To The Fire! (Or: The Fosters Arrive)

We knew that things would get crazy once the foster children we were interested in adopting came; we just didn't know how crazy. 

For example, Rachel, not even two years old yet, was struggling to survive AIDS (she had been born to an affected mother and the mother, in kind, passed it on to her little baby daughter) and was often sick.  She demanded a lot of attention and that wasn't easy, considering we already had several children who were deemed "medically fragile".

And then there was Dajun, aged six.  Down syndrome, but otherwise quite healthy.  He was a pistol.  He was extremely active and often found ways to get into mischief, often dragging our kids along into the maelstrom that he caused.  Other than that, he was quite a loveable little boy who knew how to wrap his little self around our hearts.

Hanh Ly and Linn Hanh, ages 13 and 4, were sisters from Vietnam; Linn was born without arms but was otherwise healthy; her older sister, meanwhile, had vision problems that required corrective lenses and was painfully shy.  It didn't help that Hanh spoke very little in the way of English. 

As for Matthew, aged six, he was a feral child: he had been raised with very little parental contact and faced severe brhavioral problems.  He was as wild as wild could be; he had to be constantly watched or he would dismantle the house in seconds, throwing things and screaming or hitting people at will.  One was not safe from his kicking feet or flying arms; Matthew often struck one of my children, which sent them howling to Bill or myself.

We had some experience with feral-type behavior: our son, Johnny, exhibited some of the same behaviors that Matthew was having now, but it didn't make it any easier.  We were so scared that Johnny would revert back to his old ways, but thankfully, and surprisingly, he never did, much to our relief.

II.)  More Paperwork, More Drama!

Along with the new foster kids, we had more forms to fill out and more beaurocratic red tape, as well as endless doctor's appointments.  It seemed that we were always at the doctor's for one thing or another, especially as far as Matthew and Rachel were concerned.  Rachel was constantly getting sick and Matthew had to be on behavior-modifying medications to see if they could calm him down any.  They worked for a time, but once the effects wore off, Matthew was back to his old wild self. 

I became concerned for the safety of our children.  I was terrified that Matthew might seriously injure the more vulnerable ones or himself.  He was a little force to be reckoned with.

It got to the point where If I saw one more piece of paper or form to fill out, I would almost be at the point of tears!

III.)  People React!

People were often kind or supportive in our decision to add more children to our family while others told us point blank exactly what they thought.  When it came to Matthew and Rachel's needs, they often told us that we were making a giant mistake or that we were crazy.  Maybe we were, but deep down in our hearts, we wanted Matthew and Rachel; they were just kids who happened to be going through things that no child had the right to; they needed love as well as any other child.

We tried mightily to keep Matthew calm in public situations but that was often not the case.  We had to leave the restaurant or church with our tails slunk between our legs, embarrassed for ourselves, mostly, but mainly embarrassed for Matthew's rages.  We knew we had to do something to help him, but what??  We often felt like we were hitting our heads against the wall with no headway.  It was extremely frustrating!

IV.)  Dajun, Linn, and Hanh.

I often wished that Matthew (or even little Rachel) could be more like Linn, Hanh, or Dajun.  All three proved to be quite well behaved (for the most part); we had very little problem with all three of them.  They accepted our family quite well and seemed glad to be a part of it. 

I knew now by this time just how deeply we wanted to add Linn, Hanh, and Dajun to the family.  We even filled out the required forms to start the ball rolling in the process of adding them to our family.  God put it in my heart that our family was the right place for Dajun, Hanh, and Linn.

~To be continued!~