Farewell to Foster Care

Yesterday we took our last two foster kids to their new foster home. We said good-bye to the 4 and almost-2 year-olds that we have parented for over 14 months. Yesterday wasn't the outcome we had been working towards, but it was the best possible place for them right now. We are so thankful to the amazing foster family that agreed to step in once we knew the kids wouldn't be going to their relative placement yet.

We are just a few weeks short of our 8th anniversary of taking in kids. Our first kid was 16 and turned 17 with us. Chris and I learned so much. We were still newly married, 25 and 26 years old. We knew lots about her world of treatment and drug recovery, but not much at all about parenting. She taught us so much. We went on to have G.J. and get licensed and provided care off and on in the years that followed.

We have learned to say good-bye to kids who have shared our home and life, and what to do afterwards on the day they leave to live through such a massive change. This end was even bigger for us since it is the end of our foster parenting. We won't be getting licensed in Oregon, so it is the end of such a major part of our family.

The next couple of days will be filled with memories of the past, and kids and experiences as we adjust to a new life. When a child leaves us, it brings up memories of other kids in the past, as we lovingly place our latest child on the "foster" shelf in our hearts. They move from being an active, growing part of our family, to being a child we will always remember at the age they were in our family.

We say farewell to foster care with hearts mixed with grief and relief. There are things we will miss, but it is time to pass the honor to other families who have fresh energy and light hearts.

I may have some more thoughts to share about the ending of this life chapter in the next few days...