Meeting The Girls

After being handed directions we got into our truck and followed two white generic cars through miles of new roads surrounded by stucco buildings and houses. Just two years ago this land that had been working farms.


DH says its a good thing we had a V8 as the first SW was driving like a bat out of hell. If we would have missed one light we would have been lost forever.


When we stopped I was hesitant to get out of the truck as I was scared. Now, what thirty-something adult is afraid of a two and three year old? Me. While my Honey was out and already at the door with the SWs I was still in the cab trying to catch my breath and stop the words, "What are we doing? Are we crazy?" from echoing in my head.

The girls' Foster Mother was there to meet us at the door. She was a lovely woman who obviously cared a great deal about the girls. The almost four year old was there in her orange plastic princess heels and Dora outfit. The two year old was upstairs hiding. When "C" the Foster Mom called her she was holding a dolly by the hair and it thunked down the stairs behind her. The first thing the older girl said was "I live with my Auntie".

C said that the girls think she is their Aunt. She has known the youngest since she was four months old. She is friends with their previous Foster Mom. She hosts the older sister in her home for monthly "informal" visits. She said that the sister constantly asks if the SW really is working toward adoption for her little sisters. She is afraid of losing touch with them. We were told the girls love their older sister with a passion. I was told three times that the older sister is a "good girl" and lives with her father.

DH became popular with the girls very quickly. That is always the way. He is just a big kid himself.

We just kind of hung out on the floor and visited. I was asked if I knew how to fix African-American hair. I said that I had read articles and a book about different hairstyles but knew that there was nothing compared to actually doing it which I had never done. C said, "That's ok, I didn't know how to do hair until I had my daughter. You'll learn." Then the SW said "Ok, so are we doing this thing or what?" She directed me and C to the kitchen to exchange numbers etc to set up visits. While I was in there she came in very excited to learn that we were a "Waldorf Family" and asked if the girls would be going as well and I was a little surprised at that and said "Of course they will". Then our stand-in SW asked me some kind of question and I heard the other SW tell C that she should know she always looks for a family with a two parent household. C is a single mom. She obviously loves the girls and was getting upset. The SW had told us earlier that there was a single woman who loved the children but she didn't think it was going to work out. Was C the woman? Did she want to keep the girls? Were we tearing apart a family?

It was time to leave as C had to get to work. The SW asked the oldest if she wanted to go to our house to go play in the snow and spend the night. The poor little one immediately got a deer in the headlights look. I could feel the fear emanating from her as she was leaning against my leg and I was at her level. I just whispered into her ear that she could think about that. Then she said that she wanted us to come back to HER house. We said our goodbyes and walked out into the rain. Not wanting to keep our stand-in SW in her very fashionable open toed heels out in the elements any longer than necessary, I just told her that I would call our SW to which she said she would call her immediately as this not the way things usually went.

On the three hour ride home DH was So excited and happy. "These are our girls! They will fit perfectly with our family!" He is right but I am waiting for the ball to drop.