This Foster Mom's Letter to Her Adopted Daughter Is Full of the Love We All Need Today
"Mothers talk about the moment they saw their first baby, and the special bond they share with that child who made them 'mom,'" starts a beautiful letter penned by a foster mother to her adopted daughter. "Well, that's what I share with you as my first foster child. I love you for who you are, but I also love you for what you've given me. You made me a foster mom. And you made it so easy to be one, to love you, that I've become one again and again."
Her letter — which was published on the Foster the Family blog in August and recently shared on the Love What Matters Facebook page — celebrates the second anniversary of the day her daughter joined the family.
When you came into our home, neither of us knew what to expect. . . . I had never known a baby to be so afraid, never seen a child so young fight not to be. It was days before I knew you could smile. Your teary eyes and tight-lipped half smile are all I can picture from your first days and all the pictures from those first days show. It was days before I knew you could crawl. You sat glued to one spot, figuring out your new surroundings after knowing nothing but the playpen you'd spent all your time in before. I would soon realize all of the things you 'should have' been doing and couldn't, and we worked together to accomplish those things. During your first year in our home, you achieved and overcame so very much.
Every couple of months over the past two years, I have marveled at who you're becoming, at how much you've grown. I've seen you overcome your fears and insecurities, seen you press into people rather than away from them, seen you progress and grow. I keep thinking you've 'arrived' only to see you come even further. You continually amaze me.
A couple months after a judge officially took away her daughter's biological mother's rights to her, something unexpected happened: "You climbed on my lap, you kissed me, and you told me that you loved me. You had never done that before. . . . So, here on this anniversary, and every other day, I want you to know a couple of things. I will always have room on my lap for you. I will always have a kiss held for you. And I will always, always love you."