Back in January, this precious little girl passed away after complications following a transplant.
She had been a foster child, so her parents and 5-year-old brother have been at the foster parent gatherings I have attended. At one of the gatherings, her mom mentioned that she REALLY wanted to go visit, since she had toys to donate and books to return. However, every time she packed up the car to go, she couldn't do it. Completely valid reaction in my opinion. So, I asked if it would be easier to go if I met her there and we went to the floors together. She thought that would be helpful, and today was the day.
She brought bagels for the nurses, which was really nice. I was her escort as we went from here to there, and made phone calls to make sure she could see as many people as possible. It actually would have been pretty challenging to do on her own, even if she WASN'T doing it as the mother of a child who died there. I knew the phone numbers, and had the badge that let us into "restricted" areas. It made her so happy to be able to say thank you to many of the people who took care of her daughter. It was SO worth it to me to help make sure today happened for her and her son.
They took me out to lunch and we had a nice visit. She listened to me tell my story of the conversation I had with my mom last night (next paragraph for THAT!) We talked a lot about her little girl, and their hopes of adopting another child. (We ran into one of the caseworkers from our agency in the hospital and her son said "we need to talk to her about getting us another child"...) It was definitely good for both of us. Totally worth going to work on my day off (plus that was a very easy, and fairly good, reason to not do anything to my house!)
My mom had never really shown any kind of support for my desire to be a foster mom. We have a really good relationship, but NOT really good at having "tough" conversations. Last night, in the middle of a conversation that ran the gamut of topics, she said something like "I would help you as much as I could"...What?! My tearful response included "that is the first time you have EVER said anything like that". She then did the whole "this idea came out of nowhere/I didn't know what your 'plan' was" bit which was a little annoying seeing as I've wanted to be a foster parent since I was like twelve, I have been talking about it for at LEAST a year, I took classes SIX months ago, had my home study, and have been going to foster parent gatherings... Anyway, it was a bit emotional. She expressed that she wasn't sure she could open her heart up like that. I told her that I believe I would perfect for foster parenthood because I like being able to do little things that make a big difference. I don't think I would mind being a "stepping stone" (of course, I haven't actually "been there", so don't know for certain, but that is something I think I'd be good at). So, while that didn't really SOLVE anything, at least we had an open conversation.
Tonight I had my Bible Study and it went well. I actually participated quite a bit, maybe one of the people who talked the most. (I did get hives...I've been getting those more often these days...what's up with that?! See my "No Hives" post for more details about THAT!) Hopefully I didn't participate TOO much, but I think I stuck to the topic, didn't speak out of turn, and didn't talk too long :o) I definitely don't want to be "that person"!
My little "A-Team" girl is in the hospital tonight. Thankfully, she has been able to remain close to home this admission. Praying this is a short stay and she will be back at home with her family soon. There are also several other "bloggers" who have requested prayers today/tonight, so I'm keeping them in my prayers as well.
Well, it's after midnight, and even though I don't have anything planned for tomorrow, I suppose I shouldn't stay awake all night just because I can :o) Good night!
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