Foster Care: The Journey Continues

Journey ContinuesEditor’s Note: Several weeks ago, we shared with you the story of Kelley Rose Waller, a Foster mom and contributor to Hope 4 Hurting Kids in an article titled The Winding Road of Foster Care and Adoption as Kelley and her family prepared for and attended what they hoped would be the final court date for their foster son of the last two years whom they’d like to adopt. This past week, Kelley wrote the next installment in that story which we share with you now. 

We have presented excerpts from each of Kelley’s three articles below and encourage you to click-through to her blog to read the rest of the story.

Part 4: Waiting for Tomorrow

I can’t handle another emotional adrenaline rush, so I’m just enjoying today. Tomorrow we go to court. Again.

I’m not thinking about tomorrow and yesterday and the irony of Mother’s Day and court falling a day apart.

I’m thinking about a giant pile of dirty dishes and who’s going to fold all this laundry. I went to the gym and did a normal work-out (as opposed to the angry work-outs where I set personal bests). I went to the grocery store. I need to get gas in the van at some point.

Normal Monday. Actually, better: fun Monday!

Because life is real, and time is moving forward. And tomorrow is coming…

Read more

Part 5: Yesterday’s Gone

After court yesterday, I didn’t want to go home. Not in a dramatic way, but I wanted to be out in nature and surrounded by people. So first we walked in a park, then we went shopping. My husband had our two youngest in the cart, and something distracted me, so I wandered off.

My littlest didn’t, of course, understand that his life had been dramatically altered by a man’s word just hours before. He doesn’t know that in a few days, he’s leaving forever the only home he’s ever known in his 29 months of life: 872 days and counting. I guess it’s a countdown now…

Read more

Part 6: It Isn’t Like Packing for College

I think when you pack up your kid’s room, you should be packing university sweatshirts, not onesies.  Maybe if you’re moving your whole house, then you can pack someone’s tiny socks along with everything else. But it’s weird to pack up someone’s entire belongings and have it only be three boxes.

But that’s what happens when everything is small. Small pants. Small PJs with dinosaurs on them. Small dress shirts with only four buttons.

This is crappy…

Read the conclusion of this installment of Kelly’s story here

Written by Kelley Rose Waller
Kelley has a B.A. in English and is an avid writer. She enjoys writing to offer others insights based on her own observations and life experiences including being a foster parent. You can find more of her writing on her personal blog at http://www.kelleyrosewaller.com/blog/. Kelley also writes fiction to imagine new life experiences. Her debut novel, The Senator's Youngest Daughter, was released on October 1, 2016. Kelley's day job as a marketing strategist offers her the opportunity to write and plan for clients in diverse fields. Kelley is a ridiculous fan of science fiction and board games. She and her husband are foster parents and live in Lancaster PA with their three sons and their dog. Kelley lives and writes to uplift and glorify the name of Jesus Christ.