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Dinner with J

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https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1bTZCovFmqVf3od5QoZXN56SkqjyT5gTt 
I took this photo mid-sword fight tonight. *No one was hit by the broom.
J text me this morning and asked if we had dinner plans. I invited him over and he quickly accepted. He has a new job and has lost some weight. It’s been a while since we caught up.

When we were first gettin licensed Kaybree was 5 and Eisley was 3. We knew we wanted a teenage boy. It seemed like nearly everyone asked us if that was wise. I’ve often reflected on that. 
Yes, teenage boys have hormones. They can be rough and smelly and use bad language. They can also be so fun.

Kaybree and Eisley and even Aspen all look forward to visits from J. Seeing them talk and laugh during dinner tonight made my heart swell.

Sometimes when I talk about our foster experience I feel like I need to add a caveat. Yes—we enjoyed it and we love J BUT we did not save him. He did not graduate high school. He did not choose to live with us until age 21. I am not the only woman he calls “Mom” (although I may be the only “mother”). But I’ve learned that’s NOT what fostering is about. You don’t save a child by keeping them on the path you desire for them. You save them by loving them unconditionally and proving to them that that love is possible. It’s nice to know that even if I failed to show that (although I would argue I did not fail in that regard) that my girls are there to pick up the slack. They love him wholeheartedly. And that is worth risking all the teenage hormones! 

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