Fostering and why it's important.

There are so many kinds of fostering. You can foster dogs, cats, livestock, kids, elderly people, etc. I have seen all of these in my life. I am currently fostering 3 of the most adorable quirky little cats ever. It's not something I set out to do. I had a friend who was in a situation where she required medical attention for many months. I was able to take her cats and my giant cat is the brother of these guys so it was a no brainer. My husband is luckily very understanding and let me take them in even though he does the more unpleasant cat care. See I'm allergic to cats. so they can't get too close to my face and I have constantly wash my hands after loving on them so I don't rub my eye or nose and have a reaction. I have never been able to live without a cat even though I'm allergic. I love animals. The thing about fostering is it's hard. No matter what kind of fostering there is an adjustment period. There's times when you think, "Will they ever feel at home here?" but most of the time they do. There can be issues. I've fostered dogs that had issues with other dogs. luckily they were fine with our dogs but we had to be careful to keep them away from others. One of the kitties I'm fostering I thought he'd never quit hiding from us but after almost 2 weeks of hiding he came out to eat and saw me petting one of the other cats. He slowly made his way to me and since then we've been pretty inseparable. Yes it will be hard to take them back to their mommy. But I just focus on the joy they will give to her while she is healing. We're friends so I can visit them. Not everyone is lucky enough to have that but it helps me. Either way sometimes people or animals need an in between place. Those who offer to be that place, to love them like they're family until they can return to their actual family, they have to be a special kind of person. It's so hard to let go. I think the most difficult would be adult foster care. My grandmother was in adult foster care before she passed. My mom went everyday and helped them get grandma put to bed but these people loved my grandma and cared for her like she was family. They invited us to visit anytime and we came to love these people like family. But they love these people and care for them knowing that usually they won't leave until they leave to be with Jesus. That has got to be so hard. It's such a blessing to be able to love animals and people whenever you can and I hope that one day everyone who fosters does it for all the right reasons. I hope that every animal and child and grandparent that needs to be fostered finds someone who is willing to give them all the love they need and deserve!

Always Against The Odds

I have always been an odd duck. I get it from my mother. When we get strep throat we tend to get the kind that like 2% of people get. If there's an extremely low chance of anyone being allergic to something then you can pretty well bet that either my mom or me or both of us will be allergic. Well 17 years ago my mom had a very rare and aggressive form of cancer. At the time we were told that nobody who had gotten it had lived past 5 years. No female had yet gotten it. Nobody younger then 55 had ever had it. She was 34. She had against all odds contracted this horrible disease. I was 13 and I took over raising my brothers who were 10 and 14. I also took care of my mother once she was released. When I see 13 year olds now I don't know how I did that at that age. I against all odds kept our family together. I kept my grades up and I kept my sanity and even perkiness through it all. My mother as of today against all odds is 17 years cancer free! There are so many people that I include in my prayers at night because of this. She had an amazing team of doctors. She had wonderful nurses who even gave her massages while she was recovering. She has had 17 years of more doctors and nurses keeping her healthy. I'm thankful for the people who supported me while I supported her. But most of all I am thankful that I have my odd duck mommy! We're odd ducks but sometimes being the odd one out it a very good thing!