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Welcome. As the title says, I'm sure you'll understand what this page is about. I want to be able to convey to you what our so-called "system" does for our children, and how desperately they need an intervention program that will deter so many children from being in a situation that may cause them emotional, physical, mental and verbal injustices. Sometimes, someone has to step and and take matters into their own hands, and do what they feel, in their heart, is the right thing to do. The lit fuse needs to be cut before it hits the dynamite. These children need to be saved. I will be conveying my thoughts, feelings, emotions, and actions and reactions that I have experienced. Mind you, these are MY thoughts, and how I feel, and what I would like to see happen with our "so-called" system "For the Love of the Children".
Let me start at the beginning to explain why I feel this way, and what has brought me to do this web page. First a few basic details, our youngest daughter, Becky, who is 18, a senior in High School, with a learning disability decided she wanted to move into her own apartment and live on her own with her daughter, Tahlor. Becky had been date raped and decided to keep Tahlor. I tried to explain to her that going to school full time, and getting Tahlor ready to go to her aunts house, my other daughter who lives in the same apartment complex with her children, for the day, was going to be too much on her and Tahlor. I explained how I was worried about her failing classes and not attending school at all, and not being able to cope with all the responsibilities of being a parent and a student. She didn't want to hear anything I had to say to her. She made it clear that she was going to move out and do as she pleased. Becky may be physically 19 years old, but with the mentality of a 13 year old, and not having guardianship over her, my hands were tied. I could not stop her from moving out. I was worried for both of them. Becky doesn't know how to cook, much less keep things organized and clean. Well, her application for her apartment went through, and she and Tahlor moved out on January 15th. She barely had basic necessities for her apartment, and what she did have I gave to her. I started receiving phone calls from people who live above or below Becky, telling me that she would have all kinds of people in and out of her apartment all hours of the day and night, and that they were concerned for Tahlor being exposed to all that was going on. I made a few attempts to contact Becky to find out if what I had heard was true... she refused to return my calls. I made a few phone calls to our local agency to let them know what was going on and I was told that they were not an intervention program and couldn't step in until something happened to the child. I politely told her that I wasn't going to wait that long, because something needed to be done immediately before something DID happen. I also told her it was because of that kind of attitude that so many children were being abused, neglected and killed. Just before I hung up, I told her I hoped she could sleep at night thinking about all the children suffering because of that kind of attitude. About 2 weeks went by and I couldn't take the phone calls anymore, hearing that there were all kinds of drinking and drugs going on in her apartment, I decided to make a pop-in visit to see how she and Tahlor were doing. When I arrived, at 11 am, I was, to say the least, shocked and dumbfounded as to what I saw. Becky had been sleeping, and Tahlor was a mess. The apartment was a disaster, and there were 2 men sleeping in Tahlors bedroom with the door locked. I asked her what they were doing there in her apartment, in Tahlors bedroom and why was the door locked? I got no answer. Needless to say, the two men to were told to leave, as they were going to cause a lot of problems for Becky by staying in her apartment. They seemed to understand, and packed up their belongings and left shortly after I did later. Tahlor appeared to be hungry, and desperately in need of a bath. There was very little food in the kitchen, and nothing for Tahlor to eat. I asked Becky to let me take her home with me so I could feed and bathe her, but she (Becky) started screaming at me..."This is my kid and your not going to take her from me". I told her I wasn't trying to take her from her, I just wanted to feed her and clean her up. Still nothing doing, she wasn't going to let me take her. At that point I had no choice but to go to the court house and file an emergency Care & Protection Order (C&P). It took some doing but we did get to see a judge that day and he said he wanted an investigation started mmediately through Department of Social Services (DSS). What a joke that was! They (DSS) called Becky at home and said they were going to come visit her. Becky made up some kind of story that she had appointments and wouldn't be in that day. So, DSS told her they would be back a couple days later to check on her to establish a case or find nothing. Well, that gave Becky 4 days to get her apartment cleaned up and get food in her kitchen. Needless to say, they found nothing wrong with what they saw in her apartment. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that they gave her enough time to clean up her act before they got there. Think about it....does that make sense to you? I called DSS back and asked if they had substantiated anything or not, and I was told that that information could not be devulged as it was between Becky and the worker who did the investigation and would be an invasion of Beckys right to privacy. I was furious! What about Tahlors right to have a clean, safe and stable home, food in her stomach and no strangers walking in and out of her home all hours of the day and night? What about Tahlors right to have her own bed in her own bedroom....who was going to protect that babys rights? We were in and out of court every 2 weeks for the first 6 weeks. The judge finally ruled that I would keep Tahlor here Sunday night through to Friday afternoons so Becky could go to school and not have to worry about getting Tahlor up out of her warm bed in the early morning ours of winter. Becky was fine with that until my husband and I went to pick Tahlor up on a Sunday night. I had heard just before leaving to get Tahlor, that Becky was planning on leaving the city, so I could never see Tahlor or her again, to go live with 2 men, older than my husband, (Becky's father), who were known drug users and dealers who just happened to be spending a lot of time at Becky's apartment. Becky started screaming and yelling and swearing at me to get out of her home, that no one was going to touch her kid! (Again, that word) She got so angry, that she threw an ashtray (the closest thing to her hands to throw) at the counter and smashed it all over the kitchen. She had the whole apartment complex in an uproar thinking she was being murdered. Someone had called the police and told them what was going on. Meantime, Becky had positioned herself on the stairs with Tahlor between her and the staircase and was pressing against her to keep people from helping Tahlor to safety. When the police showed up, I had explained to them what the situation was and that the judge had ordered we take Tahlor home with us so Becky could go to school. Unfortunately, I had no paperwork to back up what I was saying. The police then talked to Becky, and told her that she has to comply with the orders from the judge. The police also checked Becky's apartment for food and found nothing. They tried to tell her how lucky she was to have parents that actually cared what happened to her and her daughter. After hearing what the police had to say, and threatening her with an arrest for disturbing the peace and violating the judges orders, she let us take Tahlor home with us. The following day, I made a call to the court to let them know what had transpired over the weekend and told them I really think Tahlor needs to be out of there for her protection. We met with a different judge this time, and he ordered that Tahlor stay with me, that I be in charge of her care and protection until we appear in court again. I was also informed that a grandparent filing a C&P was highly unheard of. He (the judge) said he needed time to gather some information as to the laws regarding this. Becky was appointed an attorney as was Tahlor. We went back to court on March 25th, with our attorneys, and I was awarded physical custody of Tahlor, and Becky and I have joint legal custody and joint guardianship of her. Now, because I filed the C&P, DSS is involved and they will be doing CORY checks on everyone living here in our home. They will be sending someone here once a week to do spot checks on Tahlor and us. The case worker we have, seems, so far, to be okay. She noticed that when she was asking Becky questions, Becky didn't seem to understand a lot that she was asking of her, and I explained that Becky had a learning disability. Almost 99% of the answers Becky gave her were "I dont know". I had a nice long chat with our worker, and told her there NEEDS to be an intervention program for children so that DSS doesn't have to be involved for cases like this. I told her how I felt and what I feel should be done. There are far too many people working in our so called "system" that are overpaid paper shufflers and pencil pushers, who are only in it for the money. There should be a program where these babies and parents can get help without having to go through all this red tape, especially for ones with learning disabilities. I have tried every agency I could think of contacting, to get some kind of help for Becky and Tahlor, and I got the same response from all of them..... "we don't handle situations like this, and we dont know who to send you to", as far as they all know, there is nothing out there for situations like this. Legally, Becky is 19 years old, but..... she has the mentality of a 13 year old child! Does it make sense that Becky should be allowed to make decisions that could very well be detrimental to, not only her health and well-being, but also to her childs? There has to be something in our society that can protect these babies. I did explain to Becky that what I was doing was for her own good and for Tahlors good. She said she understood a little of what and why I was doing this. Now.... this is the clincher.....Because Becky is now living under our roof, it is her responsibility to provide for her daughter. She was cut off TAFDC (Transitional Aide to Families with Dependent Children) due to her inactivity in school. I do have paperwork to prove that I have physical custody of Tahlor, so I applied to get her some insurance and benefits. I was denied because Becky lives in our home, but yet, because Becky doesn't have physical custody of Tahlor, she no longer qualifies to receive any benefits. Talk about making up rules as they go along! Meantime, this baby has no medical coverage unless I throw her mother onto the streets. Financially, we are strapped due to an automobile accident I was in back in November of 1999, and I'm unable to work at the present time. So, we are working on getting Custodial Care for Tahlor so we may receive benefits for her. If I hadn't stepped in and taken matters into my own hands, and done what I know in my heart was the right thing to do, I dont know if my daughter or granddaughter would be here today. We need an intervention program that will do something before it's too late for these innocent children who cannot speak for themselves. If I had the power, I would help every child from being abused, neglected, and cheated out of a full life. I am a grandmother of 6 little cherubs, MiKayla, Brandon, Tahlor, Shane, Jasmine, and Isaiah, who are my whole world. There is nothing I wouldn't do for them. Somehow, these babies are helping me to see life in an entirely new way, through their eyes. Regardless, if these babies were mine or not, if I see any child being abused or neglected, I feel it is my duty as a human being to do or say something to protect that child. I am getting a second chance at raising a child to be a warm, loving, kind, caring individual. I really do feel blessed, but our "system" has to work with us, not against us. I started with my own..... now lets see if others will be willing to follow suit and do what they know in their hearts is the right thing to do rather than turn their backs because the don't want to get involved. What we need for these teenage parents, in my opinion, is training for these pregnant girls, how to be a parent, how to be patient, how to give their baby basic necessities. There should be some kind of assisted living situation where these young girls will be totally responsible for themselves and their babies. A place where they can be monitored and supervised, and their actions documented on paper by someone who is qualified. There needs to be some form of agency who will be willing to step in and do this. It is NOT the responsibility of grandparents to raise their grandchildren. Many grandparents have to give up so much in order to care for their grandchildren, when they should be preparing themselves for retirement. I'm not saying I would ever give up taking care of Tahlor, or helping my other grandchildren, what I am saying is the laws are so lenient on teen parents that they make the grandparents responsible for their childrens actions. I know of no parent who can be at their childs side 24 hours a day to prevent this from happening. But yet "society" says WE ARE RESPONSIBLE! Don't get me wrong, I don't mind helping my daughter out, I want what is best for her and Tahlor, but I feel that there needs to be some kind of agency that will help also, that will teach her, with her learning disability, to be a functioning human being. I have spoken to other people who are in the same kind of or similiar situation as I am in and they have agreed with me. If there were an assisted living "house" for these teenagers, they could learn at their own pace, how to be a parent, how to care for a baby, how to be responsible for themselves and their children. WE NEED THIS! For the future of our children and grandchildren, we need to do something and it needs to be done now! I can't tell you how frustrating it is to be told over and over again, "I'm sorry, we can't help you." These babies didn't ask to be brought into this world, but yet, we, as a society, turn our backs on them until "something happens". I don't know about anyone else, but, I, for one, will not wait for that to happen to any child! Innocent children are just that,INNOCENT, and they are at our mercy for their every want and need, but yet, we turn our backs and pray for the best outcome, and when something does happens, we question......"Why didn't someone do something?" Usually, by then, it is too late to reverse the damage that has been done. Can anyone of you afford to take that risk? Can you sleep at night knowing you saw or heard something happening to an innocent angel and did nothing about it? I can't! We do have another court date on June 17 where we will meet, yet again, in front of the judge, along with our attorneys, DSS, Probation Officers, Court Investigators, and countless others who are involved. I will seek guardianship of my granddaughter. I will tell the judge how I feel, and what I want. For my own peace of mind, and for the safety of my granddaughter, I will do, what I know in my heart is the right thing to do for her. Becky is nowhere near ready to be a parent. She needs so much herself, training, and general life skills in order to provide for Tahlor in the future.
"Well, we went to court again today (June 17th,1999) and Becky, Bill (my husband) and I were granted physical custody of Tahlor until Becky is mentally capable of taking care of Tahlor on her own and making the proper decisions for her. We are in the process of getting a psychological evaluation set up, and from there we will know more about Becky's mental state. The judge we had yesterday was wonderful. I think Tahlor stole his heart. He was playing with her before we went into the courtroom, telling her how beautiful she was, and blowing kisses to her, and naturally, she played shy with him. We were called into the courtroom just a few minutes later, and as we sat down, Tahlor started to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", her favorite song. Everyone was quiet listening to her sing. She looked up and saw us looking at her and she stopped. The judge said she was the happiest little child he has seen in a very long time, and he could tell she was very loved and well taken care of. We do have to go back to court on July 22, to sign papers for the custody. A legal notice will be put in the newpaper to notify Tahlor's father that the 3 of us now have custody of her. Somehow they are planning on getting some kind of support out of him while he is incarcerated. For now, things are going well with Tahlor. Becky is attending classes, and will continue to do so all summer, until she returns to high school in September.
UPDATE: 7/22/99 Today, we (Bill, myself and our daughter Becky) were granted joint guardianship of Tahlor, we share joint legal custody, and Bill and I have sole physical custody of her. After we were done with the legalities of the situation today, Judge Perez had a few words to say to Becky. He told her that regardless of what she thought of us as parents, we were good parents, very good parents, and she should be happy that WE are the ones who made a motion to get Tahlor instead of Department of Social Services. He said he has 2,005 children who wish they had grandparents like us who would be there for them, but unfortunately, most grandparents do not want the burden of raising another child again. He told her she is more fortunate that she knows right now and, hopefully, someday she will come to realize that. After he was done with Becky, he looked at Bill and I and told us he wished more people would step forward to help their children and grandchildren like we did. He also said he is so happy he went with his "gut instinct" to hear us that day in February. He sees how much we love and care, not only about Tahlor, but our daughter as well. He said we should be commended instead of condemned by society for what we have done, adding that it takes a lot of love and strength to do what we're doing for our family to keep it intact. I had tears in my eyes. He made me feel so good about what I've done. When you know in your heart you're doing what is best for everyone involved, and you feel good about it, that's wonderful, but...... when someone with authority says you've done the right thing..... well, there are no words to describe the feeling it gives you. Judge Perez commended us for holding our family unit together and keeping it together. I told him that family units were so very important, not just for the adults, but for the little ones who depend on us for saftey and security! I'm glad I did what I did to get custody of Tahlor. God only knows where she'd be right now if I hadn't.
Update...We returned to court on September 16, 1999 to receive the final signed papers for Tahlors custody. I can't tell you how elated I am about this. Tahlor's custody had to be published in the local newspapers and her father had to be notified. He showed up with his attorney to say that he had no problem at all with us having physical custody of her, and added that he was grateful that we were willing and capable of caring for her. On the advice of Tahlors' attorney, I obtained a restraining order to keep him away from my home and Tahlor for as long as need be. On a number of occassions, he would call here after being told not to, by myself, my husband, and my daughter, then he would call his friends, who had 3 way calling, and they would call here so he didn't have to pay for the phone calls, and then he started having his mother and sister call here to ask about their new granddaughter and niece. (Mind you Tahlor is 2 years old) Tahlors attorney was informed about some serious charges pending against this man, and she then informed us of them. His most current case pending is rape of a child under 14. When I went from the juvenile court room to the adult courtroom, I was informed that he has a number of sexual charges pending against him, and he is due to be released sometime in October of 1999, but has to appear in court that same day for another charge. I was called to the witness stand and asked a number of questions as to why I wanted this order served. I explained the situation to this judge, who, while I was talking, was thumbing through pages of this mans criminal history! I explained that I had to get a block on my phone, signed harrassment papers at the House of Correction, and was always on guard when it came to taking Tahlor anywhere, as I was in constant fear that he would follow through with his threats. The judge then proceeded to ask him a few questions, and said with his history of "sexual" charges pending, he would grant the order and if he found out I was being harrassed through third or even fourth parties, his sentence in jail would be extended. There is no way on this green earth I will allow that man to have any physical contact with this little girl. I don't trust him, and I feel I have very good cause to have these feelings. As of right now, Tahlor is a very bright little girl, she has the vocabulary of a 3 year old and sometimes a 4 year old. She is completely potty trained, sings songs l like the alphabet song, Twinkle Twinkle, Happy Birthday, all the songs on her Barney tapes, and a host of other songs that I listen to (soft rock and country),rides her trike, puts 25 piece puzzles together, can count to 20 alone and right now is learning her colors and shapes and numbers. I do spend a lot of quality time with her doing things she likes to do, and I guess it's paying off. (smile)I am very blessed, and so very proud of her! We dont have to go back to court now for another year to renew the restraining order. Maybe our system does work if we make enough noise? (Then again, we shouldn't have to make any when it comes to the safety and welfare of children.)
On December 4th, 1999, Becky had her testing done (neuropsychoevaluation), and the testing showed just as I had suspected all along. She is so far behind in so many aspects of life... her reasoning and thinking things through and assuming the consequences of actions is only that of a child. These lack of skills, should have been seen and noted and something should have been done long ago. It shows that "she has significant functional limitations in her daily function, as she needs constant reminders as to how to do daily activities. She has a deficit in practical reasoning. Her reasoning is focused on the "here and now" and that in turn makes it difficult for her to reason anticipating the future as well as the consequences of her bahavior. She has difficulty in anticipating the future, which include her own needs as well as those of her daughter. She needs hands on "demonstrations", repeated a number of times a day. Direct observation suggested that Becky's limitations are not immediatley apparent. While she gives the impression of understanding conversations with higher level reasoning, she actually does not. This appears to be a compensatory strategy she has learned to co-exist with same age peers. Her limitations became quite apparent in te context of testing and conversational questioning. Beck has limited coping skills and appears to become easily frustrated when facing a challenge. Her Verbal IQ is 74, (a score of 70 or below is considered Mentally Retarded). Her Performance IQ is 104 (which is in the average range) and her Full Scale IQ is 85, which falls into the low to very low average. There is a wide gap between the two (the verbal IQ and the Full Scale IQ)...... normally, there would be no cause for concern if the gap were 20 points or less, but with a gap to this extreme, there is cause for concern. Articulation of insight and reasoning (Comprehension) fell in the Borderline Range, she could understand only the most elemental and concrete questions, not higher level reasoning occurred. Simple auditory span fell in the Low Average Range. Her speed of processing and rate of processing were significantly impaired. Significant impairment was seen in language-related skills. when given a reading test, identification of printed words showed impairment, falling at the grade equilivent of 5.5 (middle of the 5th grade). On another reading test, her rate of reading fell at the grade equivilent of 3.8 (end of 3rd grade) and her accuracy fell at that of 5.7 (end of the 5th grade)". (This is just a partial segment of the report that was written). I am in the process of contacting and forwarding all of Becky's scholastic records to the Massachusetts Board of Education. These signs should have been seen by all of Becky's teachers she's had in the past as she is enrolled in Special Education Classes. Nothing was ever noted, and I really dont think any of her teachers were aware of the severity of her disability....they were made aware during "parent-teacher" conferences. If they did notice, they just shuffled her along so they wouldn't have more paperwork to do. This doctor has recommended that Becky "receive outside help from the Department of Mental Retardation in the context of her severe deficits. By history, it does not appear that she has the skills to live independantly according to information received. Becky appears to be vulnerable to having others take advantage of her due to her limitations, and she requires supervision as a parent for her own child. Her reading level is that of a child in the 3rd to 5th grade". The doctor who did the testing, informed me that the school department should have picked up on this long ago and done something about it. I told her that "our system here wont help only one child with a disability such as Becky's, as they do not have the funding for it". I have fought for years for her rights to be taught at a rate and degree for her benefit, but as I was so politely told by the Special Education Department here, "she is keeping up with everyone else, there's no need to do more for her at this point". The testing done by our school system here, doesn't come close to finding what a childs problem is, unless it is a drastic one where the child simply cannot understand anything said to them. Through Chapter 766 in Massachusetts, a child with a learning disability is to be retested by an independant evaluator every 3 years. This has not been done in this case. It has been 10 years and I am the one who made the phone calls to have her tested. That was the responsibility of the Special Education Department to do. I was told, "well, we've moved our office, and out paperwork is not in files yet; we can't seem to find Becky's file; or... we're in the process now of revising our filing system." Those were just excuses (I know now) not to have Becky tested. Because she has a "special learning disability" does that mean she doesnt have the rights to an education like everyone else? Does that mean they are allowed to shuffle her along and pass her so they wont have to do more paperwork? Isn't that (in some form) denying her a proper education? She has the right to be taught in such a way that she can learn doesn't she? I'm contacting the Massachusetts Board of Education this week (after I receive a copy of Becky's test results) and will hire an attorney from Boston who handles cases such as these, where children with special needs are deliberately denied an education. Maybe now something will be done and can get the services I need for Becky.
On Tuesday January 4th, 2000, there was an incident that occurred here where Becky and her older sister got into a verbal argument over something someone had said and it was taken out of context. Amy got upset, and slapped Becky. Becky, in retaliation, picked up a ceramic ashtray and threw it at Amy, hitting her in the forearm. The asktray then hit Tahlor in the forehead, causing a cut about an inch long. We called the ambulance as we knew she needed stitches. The police (4 of them showed up), an ambulance crew (2 of them), and 4 firemen showed up. Becky was a wreck. She sat on the floor, screaming and crying that she didnt mean to hit Tahlor.... that she loves her and she was sorry for hurting her. Well, as it turns out, DSS was closing the case that day, and now they were obligated by law, because the police filed a 51A (child abuse and neglect charges), to have DSS involved again. A week later, January 11, 2000, an investigator came here to talk to all of us. She informed us that what happened was truly an accident, after we ALL told her what had happened tat day, and that she was going to write her report as such, and assured us that it would be unfounded. WELL........ I'm so furious, what she said to us and what was written on the letter we received on Saturday, January 15th, said somethng entirely different. At the bottom of the letter, it states that we can appeal the findings within 30 days. You can bet your bottom dollar I will fight this and will make that woman look like a fool. I will make DSS eat every single word they have said.... I'm going to fight and fight fair, I'm not going to twist words and actions to make it look as though Becky deliberately hit Tahlor and caused her to be hurt. I will tell the truth...... I won't twist what happened, like they seem to think they can do when they do an investigation. They are now fighting with the wrong person. I am going to request a hearing, but it will be at MY convenience,....as long as I have to pay state taxes, and these people collect a state paycheck, they work for me! They will do as I say! No one will twist with happened and get away with it! I've had it with this "system" and I'm going to shout until I can't talk anymore! This system is so unfair and unjust to the innocent little ones involved, but yet... the ones who need to be childless for reasons I won't mention right now are allowed to continue to reproduce so they can deliberately abuse and neglect more innocent babies! I will write more after I speak to Tahlors attorney, and will document what is going to happen here.
update: January 20th, 2000. Well, I talked to DSS and they have reassured me that they do not have a problem with me caring for Tahlor and Tahlor being in my custody. They have told me that Becky is not allowed to be alone with Tahlor, for the time being and that is understandable. I did tell them (DSS) that I do let Becky and Tahlor sleep together in the same room at night, but I have a monitor on so I can hear everything that is going on in their bedroom. At the first sound of Tahlor fussing or stirring, I'm up. I was told to use my own judgement as far as that goes.
With all this in mind, my husband and I have discussed in length, weighed the pros and cons, and have decided to gain full legal custody, and full guardianship of Tahlor. We already have physical custody of her. We don't want to give the impression that we want to take Tahlor away from her mom, we just want to give Tahlor a chance to grow up in an environment where she will feel safe, loved and secure, and at the same time, help Becky to become a functioning member of society where she can someday take care of Tahlor on her own. With all the information gathered, that we now have inhand, in black and white, we are going to do what is right by Tahlor and Becky. We are going to file "rape" charges against Tahlors father, as he took advantage of someone who does not have the mental capacity to make decisions on her own. We are going to request that he be held liable for his actions. Hopefully, the "court" will understand where we are coming from and will grant us our wishes for Tahlors benefit. I do hope this will get some attention somewhere and this creature won't be allowed near any child, let alone female, ever again. ( I have my own thoughts and feelings on what should be done to him, and they really arent nice thoughts.)
March 13, 2000. Today Becky and her sister had to appear in court for the physical abuse charges that were pending. Becky will be on unsupervised probation for 6 months, and then her case will be dropped. I certainly do hope this has taught her a valuable lesson about "life". I also received call today from DMR (Department of Mental Retardation). It seems that the school has finally sent some paperwork to that office to see if Becky is eligible for any of their services. We have an appointment tomorrow at 3 pm to fill out some paperwork and answer some questions. According to her testing scores, she is eligible for services, we just dont know which ones as of yet. I do hope she can start to get some services soon.
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I'll lend you for a little time,
a child of mine. He said,
For you to love while he lives,
and mourn for when he's dead.
It may be six or seven years,
or twenty-two or three.
But will you, till I call him back,
take care of him for Me?
He'll bring his charms to gladden you,
and shall his stay be brief,
You'll have his lovely memories
as solace for your grief."
"I cannot promise he will stay,
since all from earth return,
But there are lessons taught down there,
I want this child to learn.
I've looked the wide world over
in my search for teachers true,
And from the throngs that crowd life's lane,
I have selected you.
Now will you give him all your love,
nor think the labor vain,
Nor hate Me when I come to call
him back again?"
I fancied that I heard them say:
"Dear Lord, thy will be done."
For all the joy Thy child shall bring,
the risk of grief we'll run.
We'll shelter him with tenderness,
we'll love him while we may,
And for all the happiness we've known,
forever grateful stay;
But shall the angels call for him
much sooner than we've planned;
We'll brave the bitter grief that
comes and try and understand.
Please stop by and visit
Rexanne's page. It is so full of
valuable information.
Here is another web site that has an abundance of information for you to read.(Click on the teddy bear)
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| The Ribbons of Hope Campaign for Missing and Abused Children Knights of Kindness Parent-Plymouth-Phoenix-Unity,    This site is owned by Cyndi Want to join The Ribbons of Hope Campaign for Missing and Abused Children? |
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