Most of us think that growing up in a kind, affectionate & loving family is a natural phenomenon. To progress from childhood toward adulthood in a caring family is presumed as something normal. We feel it’s nothing extraordinary.
Coming to think of it, up to a certain age, we are not even conscious of the fact that not every child gets the blessings & love of a mom and dad who consider the child as their world. No doubt there are a lot of children the world over who don’t get a chance to live in a comfortable, loving home which they can call as their own.
Andrew, a 12 year old boy from Nashville, Tennessee knows all about that better than most of them. As per reports, Andrew has spent about half his young life in foster care. Fortune’s wheel never stops. It’s ever changing & Andrew’s fortunes changed as well, when in recent times he was adopted.
Andrew was a close friend of Joc Gill, a boy from the family, who has served as Andrew’s foster family for some years. Both the boys, Joc & Andrew enjoyed playing video games and relished pop-tarts together, and it’s undoubtedly seen that they’re good friends. Joc’s parents, Kevin and Dominique Gill, in the meantime have always liked having Andrew around.
What a delightful amazement Andrew experienced when one day when he was casually walking in the park with Molly Parker (who works at Youth Villages) he got the wonderful news that the Gills were interested in officially adopting him!
“They asked ‘will you?’ and I said ‘yeah!’”
Figures state that there are more than 8,000 children in the Tennessee Foster System longing to get adopted & get a chance to live peacefully in their permanent home. As luck would have it, one of them that is Andrew could now leave the Foster system delightfully, due to the benevolence & good heartedness of the Gills.
“This is my brother, Joc,” said Andrew.
“This is my brother, Andrew,” said Joc.
Such stories make us shed happy tears. Hats off to families like the Gills. Loads of gratitude to them since they’ve given Andrew a forever home. Adopting an older child is an amazing journey to behold in life.
