Richard was discharged from the army in early 1967. He enrolled in Chapman College in Orange, CA, for the fall term and spent the summer at home with his folks, which is how I met him. I had just graduated from high school and had my first job working at a branch library near the college where I was enrolled for the fall quarter. His mother worked there, and when he came in the library to see her, she introduced us.
In 1969, Richard and a friend decided to start a weekly newspaper in Orange, so he quit school to do that.
I graduated in 1971, we got married, and I finished the 5th year teaching program in 1972. There were a glut of new teachers looking for jobs that year, and I knew finding one was going to be difficult, So, I went to work with him at the newspaper and was involved with all aspects of publishing the newspaper, including rewriting press releases, laying out the pages, and writing headlines for the articles, in addition to back shop production and even on occasion catching and tying newspaper bundles when they came off the press.
We sold the newspaper in 1979 and moved to Oregon.
I wrote all that to get to the point that we pay attention to what we see in the newspapers that are available here because we were so actively involved with putting a newspaper together for those years. And sometimes we get an eyeful. I have seen press releases announcing an event that fail to say when the event is taking place or sometimes even where it is taking place. Things like that.
Richard was looking through one of the free weekly newspapers that we get at our post office box, and it is one of the better ones, and he suddenly starts laughing…
Of course not. As the article explains, they’ve contracted for the storage unit to keep safe personal belongings the children have to leave behind when they enter into care.
I have great respect for families that take in foster kids. My niece and her husband began caring for a baby when he was a week old. He came to them straight from the hospital, and he has been with them now for 21 months. The plan for him has always been to reunify with his parents, but there have been twists and turns along the way, and he is still with them.
“We truly don’t know what will happen next,” my niece writes. “His next court date is on 11/21… . We truly just cherish each day, because each day is a gift.”
I just finished reading a novel...
about two girls in foster care who had a few good homes and then a horrific home and have to come to grips as adults with what happened to them.
The little boy might not consciously remember his time with my niece and her husband, but what they have poured into that little boy will have a long-lasting effect on him as he grows.
No comments:
Post a Comment