Tori's Stories

Growing up, Mother’s Day was simple. It was a day to celebrate your mother. We’d wake up excited to give her the cheesy gift we made at school and she pretended to love it. Then we’d go to church, pot a plant or something and hand that off to her again. She’d smile and thank us all while wishing we’d help her clean the house once we got home.   Mom’s are worth celebrating. They do so much to ensure their children’s well being while their children do not even notice most of it. They play the roles of taxi driver, cheerleader, cook, nurse, maid, friend, and so on.   Happy Mother’s Day to my mom (and my grandma). But, I grew up and even though I still love my mom and my mom is still very much worth celebrating, Mother’s Day brought on new meanings.   Now I get to play the role of mom. But I do it to children who first had a mom that they no longer get to be with and that breaks my heart every day.   Since being in the foster parent role, I have gotten to c

Today we celebrate these two living with us for a year. It seems crazy to think that a whole year has passed by. I didn’t know it yet, but I was grieving when I said I was ready for more kids-6 seemed like such a small number. In ways I could have never planned, and ways these two will probably never know, they have helped me heal. A February 2017 A was eight months old when he moved in. We started with his crib in my room because he was so young and we really wanted to promote good bonding since he had had so many different caregivers in his life already. So many nights I’d hold him way past him falling asleep, staring at his handsome face, thanking God for this blessing. Ever since then A’s favorite place to be is in my arms. He has a lot of love to give. We have loved watching his personality come out lately. He loves to have other people chase him, play peek a boo of various varieties, and surprises us with new words every day. It has been so fun to watch him grow and le