What brings back a memory, decades-old? What brings back an ancient vision, making it seem like it flashed before my eyes only yesterday? This time, it was a foster child. My son and daughter-in-law just got a foster baby, and as soon as I saw a texted picture, I was immediately transported to the days when I worked in the infant room of the Salvation Army residential facility (on Marine Avenue) for abused and neglected kids.
Marie and her father had fallen asleep in the same bed, along with her father's cigarette. Almost 30 years later, I still remember her pink skin which was covered by pieces of peeling-off dead skin. Like a birch.
Along with her pink burns--from her scalp to her toes--she sported another color that caught everyone's attention: blazing blue eyes that could shoot arrows when she was pissed off. Which was all the time. It was uncomfortable for her to stand up--when she got old enough for that--because of her fragile skin. It didn't feel good to have us rubbing thick globs of skin cream all over her body... but it had to be done. Her hair was like a scarecrow's--if the scarecrow had survived a three-alarm fire. Several times a day we'd take a fine-toothed comb and try to keep the straw-like hair free of the dead skin that seemed in endless supply. If looks could kill? I would have been dead hundreds of times over because of that little girl's spirit.
Marie was one of the few success stories. She got adopted by a wonderful family. She was loved and doted on. Most of the other kids drifted into a foster home or back to their birth parents... which meant that some of them would continue to endure the abuse and neglect... more burned buttocks or strings tied around a boy's body part to help with toilet training... more molestation... more time left alone in a crib without anyone to bond to...
I hope this new foster baby is like Marie. I hope that wherever he goes to next (next month? Later this year? Next year?) is either to a loving adoptive home or back to his mended and caring birth family.
What survivor or underdog still remains in your memory? Inquiring minds want to know...
Heart wrenching details, yet so much hope. Hooray for your son and daughter-in-law. AND FOR YOU!
ReplyDeleteWow, Sioux, this was powerful to read. I could almost see Marie from your vivid details. I'm going to ponder on your question about the underdog...the first one that comes to mind is a chicken I had as a child, appropriately named Limper.
ReplyDeleteSo tragic and yet amazing what the human spirit can endure! I still wonder about the girl abandoned all those years ago in a K-Mart parking lot...I wonder if I scooped her up only to be returned to a worse situation. I hope not--I hope that day was a wake up call for her mother, and that she's thriving out in a kinder world.
ReplyDeletePowerful visualization here, made more intense because it is true. You've broken my heart this morning with this post.
ReplyDeleteYour underdog question---the one I think of is my great-niece Maddie. She was born with tricuspid atresia, a congenital heart defect. She required multiple surgeries as an infant, suffered seizures which deprived her brain of oxygen and resulted in severe brain damage, and spent months in the hospital. She was not expected to live, but our little Warrior Princess defied the odds. She is six now and brings joy to everyone she meets.
As a former Juvenile Officer, I know what it's like to work with kids who have been through some terrible events. I really identified with this post.
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