Summer of No Return Part 2

Teenagers?

One Saturday afternoon, late in the summer, we got a call from the intake worker at Health and Welfare. They had a teenage girl who needed a place to stay, temporarily, until a few things were worked out and she either went home or to her sister. I was actually scared. Babies were a good starting place, and the elementary aged boys had been a challenge. But teenagers?

"Is she trouble?" I asked.
"She seems very sweet, actually," the worker said. "It'll probably just be the weekend anyway."
"OK," I said.

They got to our house about an hour later. My mom, Joe and I were planning to go do some shopping, our house was still relatively new, and we were working on the front landscaping that day, and we were waiting for our new teenage girl to arrive before we left. When I opened the door, nervous, I found a small, withdrawn, blond haired girl. She was more nervous than I and didn't talk much at first. Her name was Kneesaa (pronounce knee - suh), and she was 15 years old.

It didn't take her long to start talking. She was full of nervous energy, and had been through a lot that week. I think she was relieved to be in a safe place, and the more she relaxed, the more she talked. It turned out she was quite a talker afterall...she even talks in her sleep! :-) We took her shopping for clothes and essentials, and took her to a movie, Angel Eyes. She fell in love with Joe, and he with her. By the end of the weekend, it was like she'd always been with us.

She didn't go anywhere the next week, or the week after that. (In fact, she never went anywhere, as you'll see if you keep reading.) But, just two weeks after she came to us, we lost Joe. My mom was on another trip, I believe to visit my brother, and I got a call from Joe's case manager that he'd be going to live with his great-grandmother while he awaited a move to an adoptive family in another state. I had to pack him up that night, and take all his stuff to the daycare with him the next morning. They'd be picking him up there. Kneesaa cried with me as we got all him belongings together that night. My best friend and hugest support, Angel, came over and we took Joe out to spoil him before he left.

Joe had been with us 5 months. He was my first baby, and I hated the way this was happening. Nothing about it seemed right. I kept thinking, how can it be better for him to live with an elderly couple than with a young mother? I understood that he would one day go to the adoptive family as they were related to him. But I didn't understand why I couldn't take care of him until that time came. And I always wondered what he thought when I dropped him off at daycare, then someone else came to get him, and he never saw me again.

I didn't have too much time to grieve. I got another call two days later. This time it was a boy. A 14 year old boy. I was wondering why I suddenly had no babies and was getting calls only for boys. This was crazy. What was I going to do with a teenage boy? But I took him. I'll call him Mac. Mac was crazy! And wonderful, and fun. He laughed all the time, and he never complained about helping me cut down the forest of weeds on our oversized side yard so we could put in grass. He and Kneesaa got along well. They liked having each other's company. Then, I got a call in the middle of the night, and they had a 14 year old girl for me. I took her too. We'll call her Emily.

I loved my new group of kids, they were fun, but I was somewhat sad that I didn't have babies anymore. Then, the day before my mom came home, something happened to Mac at his family visit, and they had to move him temporarily into a mental facility. Mac never came back to live with us. I only had him a few days, but he forged a permanent place in my heart! Since then, he has spent a lot of time with my family, had his picture on our wall, and will forever be one of my kids.

Summer ended. I found myself caring for two teenage girls, and little did I know what was in store, but I never did return to a home full of babies!

Tune in again to read tales about the adventures from the Angel Retreat.

Donations to fund the needs and activities for the angels who live with us are always welcome.