Some (or most) of you already know that I work for a nonprofit agency that recruits foster and adoptive families. And a work event today inspired this blog and my most recent recording, done just tonight (which I've included at the end).
I am not on the “front lines" in my job, so to speak, I’m on the marketing and communications side. I manage our website and social media, design various marketing materials like newsletters, videos, flyers, car magnets, bus wraps, etc, etc, etc.
Part of my job is maintaining the Heart Gallery on our website. Every state has one, and we manage the one for Maine. The Heart Gallery is where you can find just a few of the children who are awaiting adoption.
I take kids off or put them on, read their bios, update their photos and their information.
I get to know them from behind the scenes.
Today, for the first time, I had the pleasure of meeting a few of these kids in person at an adoption matching event. I was in charge of the photo booth.
Of course, I couldn’t let it be just a plain old photo booth… I brought props! A leather biker jacket, a feather boa, lots of sunglasses and beads, a fancy Kentucky derby hat, a cowboy hat, and dad‘s old leather cap. Which, oddly enough, was a kiddo favorite of the day. He would’ve gotten a kick out of that. We got a great group photo of the team, too.
I got pictures of the kids so I could update the Heart Gallery, and they took lots of silly photos with the props, too. Even the families and caseworkers grabbed some props and had their pictures taken. And when it came time for the egg race, I teamed up with a coworker and one of the teen girls. I can’t say I was very quick on my feet... thank goodness for my coworker!
When the event ended and we were all packed up, the whole team went out to lunch. It was great listening to them talk about the kids and the families. I learned a lot over burgers and fries today.
I've always had the utmost respect and admiration for my coworkers, but today only amplified that. They are out there in the thick of it- on a daily basis they are connecting with these kids, dealing with the families and caseworkers… they get to experience the joy when a child (or children) and a family come together. They also experience the frustration, the sorrow, when a child who may have had a potential match, or even a committed family, is let down.
Just hearing the stories they told made me weepy. I can't imagine being so intimately involved. I don't know if I'd have the emotional fortitude for it, and I don't know how they do it. But thank God for people like them who can.
To say I am in awe of them wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
I was still on a high when I hopped in my car to make the two-hour drive home. But it didn't take even ten miles before I crashed.
I thought about all the kids I had met today... a couple tween boys, a very young girl, a young pair of twin boys, a few more teen boys, the teen girl who was my egg race partner...
And it's just so foreign to me, so unbelievable, so awful, that they, or any child, could possibly grow up without a family. What kind of world is it that we live in where this happens? So frequently, so often, and to so many children?
It's not like I wasn't aware of this before I started working here. But it's human nature to not pay attention, to anything, really, unless it's put right under your nose.
Today was bittersweet, but I still feel so fortunate to have been able to participate. So fortunate for the job that I have, with my team and this organization, and this mission.
I only wish I could do more.
And as I drove home contemplating the day, and thinking about these children, this song kept running through my head. And I recorded it as soon as I got home.
I love what I do, even if it sometimes breaks my heart.
"Mad World" Gary Jules
Please consider becoming a resource parent. Learn more by going to afamilyformemaine.org.