Lonely And Waiting For You
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Right now, there's a child waiting for a home. A child over the age of 10 years old.
When a couple adopts, it's usually a baby they want. Something small to hold. Something small to cherish. Something small to call their very own. I totally understand that. If you've been wanting a baby for a long time, and it seems as though it's never going to come your way, then a baby is what you long for. You want to see that tiny, precious life grow up in your home.
So you get that baby. And another couple gets another baby. One by one, the little ones are taken to loving homes (we hope). Tragically, not all of them are scooped up. Some are left behind. And with each passing day, they get older. The newborns keep coming in, and the "originals" keep getting older. Eventually, they're not little babies anymore. Now they're toddlers. And then grade-school age. And, God forbid to the prospective parent, now pre-teens. Yikes. Now they're teens. Who wants that at home?
I'm here to say that I do. Because at the ripe old age of 18-years-old, these foster children are now considered adults. They are released. Out into the open. Good luck, kids.
Really? Is this ok?
Let's do a mini put-yourself-in-their-shoes project. You are a young child who sees moms and dads come into your home looking for someone to love. You want to be loved. They look at you and smile. Mom might point and say, "Awww....She's precious." Dad might say, "Look at her curls!" But then they keep walking, right past you.
Every morning you wake up thinking this might be your day. Every night, you go to bed seeing one less baby in the home.
You feel unwanted, unloved, not good enough for someone to take home. And as a child, you cannot comprehend this. "Why?" is all you think about.
And so it is: day by day, week by week, month by month, and sadly, year by year. Suddenly, it's your 18th birthday. Happy birthday, kid. You're on your own. You don't know much about the way the world works, do you?
You're left alone trying to figure it out. Get a job. Find an apartment. How do bills work? How does the world work? Relationships?? Forget it. You don't understand love. Family?? What's that?
It's a terrifying thought to realize that as you read this, people are being released.
I want to be one who changes the life of at least one of these children. Don't you want to be someone who can walk into a place like this and surprise the life of a teenager?
"Yes, I want YOU. Let me show you a loving home. Let me wrap my arms around you and tell you how worthy you are. Let me guide you in the ways of the world."
In 2002, there were there were 133,000 children waiting to be adopted, according to Government Online. In 2006, the number dropped to 129,000. If we can make this need known, we can actively contribute to the decline in these horrifying numbers.
Be the hope for a child. Someone is waiting for you. Curls and all.
Irini Connerton is a graduate student in Annenberg's broadcast journalism program. Before this amazing adventure began, she was an elementary school teacher for six years. Family and children's issues are close to her heart. Irini's dream is to be an anchor on the morning news, laughing and informing you with a hot cup of coffee in front of her.
