The Lost Boy

I’m proud of who you were, David -that hurt person who refused to “die.” And I’m more proud of who you’ve become – a caring, giving, fixing person, the guy with the same sense of humor and that deft, sensitive touch. Good on you, David. I love you.

For a child to go to foster care meant there was something wrong – a complete failure in parenting. This was a failure that society did not want to face

The disability of poor parenting is more likely to cause disruption in a child’s intellectual and social growth than a physical disability.

He didn’t have much, but what he did have he treated like gold. And everything needed to be in the right place.

Dave was the last foster child to leave my home. I’m proud to be Dave’s mother.

as a result of dissolving families and values, a lack of concern for minors and a lack of proper guidance, children grow up to become “killing machines.” By investing in our “youth at risk” today, does society not stand a better chance of a “higher yield” tomorrow – an adult serving our community rather than rotting away in some jail?

Like so many other children who enter “The System, ” I was brought up in a violent, controlled environment. My problem was twofold: first, the need to deprogram my hideous past; and second, the need to be guided into mainstream society.

These children never crave such niceties as Game Boys or Nike Air Jordan shoes. Instead, these children wish for clothes that are a size too big – so as to get more wear out of them.

“It takes a community to save a child!”

as it was for her inner fear, which most foster children possess – seeking answers to their condition, while struggling to fit into an ordinary world.