I post here only very rarely but this post hits so very close to home I feel I must. I have been and am currently becoming again in an almost identical situation . About nine years ago, a lady with whom I had been aquainted stopped in for a visit. accompanied by three little girls aged seven, six and two. She left to run to the store and came back three and one half years later.
I got birth certificates for all three and enrolled the two oldest in an elementary school near their last known address. Raised them like they were my own for three years. We were known as Mr. Cary and his little black family throughout the ghetto. Lord knows there was a lot of love in this little house but all things must end. One day their mother showed up with a couple of thugs (why?) and took them away from me.
About three weeks ago the youngest, now nine, came back for a two day visit. I was amazed at how much she remembered about me and our time together. Before she left, while we were alone, she hugged me and said when ever she had a happy memory, she saw my face. She said she had loved me all her life and would love me for the rest of her life. Then she was gone.
Never doubt the impact you're having on those young lives. You're doing God's work. The rewards are slow in coming but they will come. Bless you.
