Frist off, let me apologize for making some of you very excited for a second post and then dropping the ball this week. This past week has been absolutely CRAZY. I barely got a chance to sleep or eat, let a lone sit on facebook or blog. So, to go back in time a little bit (since I started late), I'll tell you about our first weekend together in this program.
The first weekend, we were 16 individuals who had spent varying times in the Foster Care system. 8 boys, 8 girls, a whole lot of trauma. We joked about how we would make a hilarious reality TV show, and I think even pretended to be completely normal people for a while. Truth is, we're not. We've been through some things that the average child would never even think about, and we've lost things an average person couldn't even fathom losing. I say that not to say that we are better than anyone or more hurt than anyone, but to bring perspective to our group of 16. The stories of our pasts would break your heart. Hearing the stories in Danville, broke mine.
We got on a bus and drove to a gorgeous home located in Danville, Pennsylvania. It is not only insanely large and full of hidden passages, but it also is a historical landmark, as the basement of the home was part of the underground railroad. It was a beautiful house for everyone to see, but for most of our group of 16, it was the biggest house they'd ever seen, let a lone set foot in. We started off the weekend by cutting a piece of string, and telling the group a fact about ourselves as many times as the string wrapped around our finger. The weekend naturally progressed to us telling each other our stories, or as much of it as we wanted to share. We all may be foster kids, but all of our stories are different. But even though our stories are different, we all have something we want to change in the system, and we all want to make change for the future generations of foster kids. That is the link for us. The reason that personalities that would usually clash work to get along. The reason that you tell your story to a room full of essentially strangers. And the reason we all came to D.C. in the first place.
So the retreat was a great time to get to know each other and to relax and have some fun before the chaos of the city hit on Monday and I think everyone had a great time. On the way back to D.C. we stopped in Hershey, Pennsylvania to check out the outlet mall and the amusement park. What started as an amazing day and an amazing weekend ended with a sting, though. The 15-passenger van was broken into while people were at the amusement park, and the thieves took everything. Everything from i-Pads and electronics, to sentimental items that were irreplaceable. As unfortunate as this would be to any person, to a foster kid, it was especially difficult. Some of the stolen items were the last thing they had from a family member that had passed away or who they had been separated from and some of the items had been purchased after years of saving and may have been the one nice thing they were proud to own. Fortunately, I was not a victim to the break in, but I am very proud of our group for having each others back. For lending items to others that were missing them, and listening when they wanted to scream. It was a roadblock. But hey, we're foster kids. Beieve it or not, we can overcome anything. Resilience is our speciality.
No comments:
Post a Comment