I believe my foster sister was married before we arrived on the foster parent’s doorstep, though it may be that she was at home and left to be married after we arrived. She grew up seeing foster children come and go and learned early on that doing wrong could get you sent back. As a result, J was a princess. She did what she was told, when she was told, living in fear of being sent back.
Imagine being afraid that your parents will send you back if you do anything wrong.
Fast forward twenty years to the moment when J finds out that her parents are actually her adoptive parents. J’s reaction to this astonishing news, once she got over the initial shock, is relief. Relief? She was relieved that her DNA would not turn her into her mother, the harridan.
The woman (Mom) made her husband (Dad) climb up into the attic to fix something even though his state of health was so poor he shouldn’t have considered complying. He either couldn’t or wouldn’t defy her. J wonders if she was holding something over him, but it could be that he was the type of guy that just wasn’t bothered and went along to get along.
Fortunately J was able to connect with her siblings and her father who was a resident in a retirement facility at the time.
What a wonderful outcome to a surprising turn of events!
I confess that a small part of me wishes it were me that was adopted and had this happy ending. ‘Tis but a dream!