March: 2018

It's March.  You know that already. But it has become a significant month to me.  It used to be October that big changes happened to us.  We moved, had our daughter, moved another time--and yet another time--all in October.

The other day on my Facebook, my memories from three years ago showed my husband and me on our 25th anniversary Niagara Falls train trip.  I said that the year before we had just welcomed twin girls as foster placements. And, of course, it is my big sister's birth month.

I did a little fact-checking and realized that the last several Marches in recent years have brought substantial changes to our lives. 

Travel back with me to 2018. In March 2018, we had our very first foster placement and completed a whirlwind of training and licensing--you know, since the 2-year-old girl was already living with us.  We had known her since birth, and I'd been providing a good 60 hours per week care since she'd been 5 months old. My oldest friend was her foster mom.

Things went very sideways and we were her new foster family.  By March, it was clear she wouldn't be able to go back to my friend or her biological mom. We very much wanted to be her forever family. Of course, we loved her desperately and considered her one of us. But also, she'd already lost so much, and we didn't want her to lose any more. 

It was a crazy month of court appearances, therapy appointments, park days, and parenting my big kids who were quickly approaching adulthood.  What a March.