Mending Families WA

A few weeks ago I received a call from a young man, now 24, who I have known since he was just 6 years old. This call brought me to tears and did not prepare me at all for what would come.

He and his brother were two kiddos I worked with during my time as a Child Welfare social worker. I never felt like I did anything extra special…I just did the right thing to keep them safe.

Their adoptive family was so perfect for them and it truly felt like a touch from heaven putting them all together. Through their adoptive family, I was able to stay in touch with them all these years which has allowed me to watch them grow, something most social workers don’t get to see.

So when I got the call, requesting me to be the guest of honor at his wedding, I didn’t hesitate to say yes through my tears. To have the opportunity to celebrate such a beautiful day with someone who has done way more than the statistics say he should have by age 24 was such a honor.

Yes, adoption is messy. Yes, there are really yucky things that kids who are in foster care go through. But also, adoption can be beautiful and healing. And also, not every child who has been in foster care is a statistic.

Being honored at his wedding was unexpected and nothing I would ever have imagined. But it reminded me why I do what I do. To help others find their healing. To find their way. To find their purpose. To find their safe people.

Such a beautiful day celebrating a beautiful couple and I wouldn’t have had it any other way! ❤️

While I was working yesterday, and the kids tore down our back deck as the first phase of many of our backyard remodel. What started out as a fun, connecting activity, did still end that way but with a slight detour…a visit by the fire department.

My sweet client was so understanding when I had to end our session early due to a possible gas leak that was forcing us to be evacuated from our home. The possible gas leak was right in our backyard and somehow caused by the destruction of our deck.

Although everything turned out ok, that detour and the emergent nature of it put me into a bit of a fight/flight state. Here are a few things I did to calm my nervous system so I could still go to the family dinner and enjoy everyone’s company:

😮‍💨Breath in 4, breath out 8, repeat
🫨shook it out!
💦Drank ice cold water
🫙Did my container exercise
🎶Sang worship songs by myself in my car

So thankful everything turned out ok and we are back at our fun connected project today! Also thankful I had tools to come back to calm 😌