"Court today. I had to keep my hand on something because it was shaking. They all spoke like it was a legal procedure and nothing more. No compassion. 'Does anyone want the child? Are you sure? Nobody? Ok, we will be back in a few weeks and finish paperwork.'

Meanwhile said "child" is a boy I care very much about. A boy sitting next to me hearing every word. A boy who is trying to wipe away the hot tear rolling down his cheek. We ask them to act like respectful members of soc...iety. But we drop them off at strangers homes with everything they own in trash bags and then have them sit through a court hearing that would shake any adult. They have to hear nobody wants them or the few people that might are not fit. Then we drop them off at school to handle these emotions. And shake our heads when they are expelled again. We tell them to stay out of trouble and label them as bad kids for outbursts of anger and frustration. Why are our juvenile jails full? Because our custody court rooms are empty."
#FosterCare

"Thanks to the efforts of Sgt. Joey Morrison, a terminally ill teen was granted his wish to be a Police Officer. Cody Roark has Down syndrome, congenital heart disease, chronic kidney disease and heart failure, and his mother, Starr Bowers, said she doesn’t know how long her son has to live. Our agency was honored to host Cody and his family on April 5th and to swear Cody in as Officer for the Day. After his swearing in ceremony, Cody toured his new department and then hit th...e streets in search of any wrong-doers. Cody was quickly called upon to check out a suspicious person (thanks to J. Brown, played by Parks and Rec Director Chad Raby). When Cody found out the man had a warrant, he slapped on the cuffs and lead Mr. Brown to Sgt. Morrison’s vehicle. Shortly after that, Cody was walking the halls of Granite Falls Middle School to make sure the students and staff were safe.

Meet Hunter and Hope Madden, the proud parents of Evelyn, their newborn daughter. The journey to this moment has been long and challenging as the couple experienced three miscarriages.

"Losing our son was very hard on both of us. It was just such a gut punch. I think one of the worst things to come from losing Owen, other than his loss, was the way I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop with our daughter. We were very much prepared for the worst." Hunter said

The Maddens... gave birth to Evelyn on March 11th, her name means "longed for."

"So, I was hungry...I had a long day and didn't make dinner plans. I decided I'd hit the local Popeyes. When I get to the drive thru window, I notice the girl is obviously tired. So, I sympathize and relate my fatigue to hers. I ask, 'What do you do besides this?' 'Nothing' she says, 'but I'm 'bout to go back to school.'

'For nursing' she said.

'What kind of nurse?' I ask.

"I've been photoshopping my kid into marginally dangerous situations, nothing unbelievable, but enough to make people think 'Wait... did he really?'

I thought it would be fun to worry family by putting someone delicate in precarious situations. She had a very rare immune disorder called HLH and spent 6 months of her first year in hospital, receiving chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, which is the only possible cure. Of 27 million worldwide donors, 3 were deemed suitab...le, and an anonymous German woman donated. Now that she’s out of isolation we’re catching up on everything we missed and doing fun stuff like this. It’s great fun.”

"My Grandma’s high school boyfriend, Jim, called her up a few months ago to plan a high school reunion. They are both 81 and widowed. Then they had another phone call. And another. Which turned into a visit. And then, they fell in love all over again. My Grandma started smiling again. Our talks started to be about her future instead of her past. She became herself again. I guess the same thing happened to Jim. His daughter called my grandma and thanked her for 'helping her da...d smile again.'

I was going to be the Dr. Oz of parenting. I was going to be a guru, and then I realized that I would probably have to teach my kids to stop acting like wild raccoons at the grocery store. I don’t want to be negative but my kids are 10, 8, 6, and 3. This is never going to happen for me.

You are not going to get advice from me on teaching toddlers to read, or getting your kids to stop gagging on their vegetables. I could however offer a step-by-step guide to watching them chew...

"There is a 'last time' that only parents of special needs kiddos know about. And it is heartbreaking. For years I kept telling myself this was going to be fine. My son was going to be fine. And the joy he has for life typically carries me through the hard times. But somewhere on the journey, we as parents stop dreaming of raising a doctor or a lawyer and start hoping for a good quality of life. And that switch is unbelievably painful and I wasn't prepared for its impact." #A...utismAwareness

We've accomplished beautiful things together; our next chapter starts now.

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#LoveWhatMatters