The story was told to me long ago of Joy, the foster child my family had before me. I don't know how long Joy was with my family. Those details were forgotten long ago. I don't know whose idea it was to host a foster child. My parents had two children of their own, a boy and a girl, five years apart. When Joy came along, my brother and my sister were pre-teen and teen.
My mother adored Joy, but a time came when Joy went back to her own mother. My mother was devastated and determined to get a child that no one could take away from her. So, my parents took the journey down the adoption path.
My birth parents were the cliche high school sweethearts...the football player and the cheerleader. My mom was a junior when I was born and my dad graduated that year. They felt like they would not be able to provide me the life they wanted me to have, so they put me up for adoption through the Gladney Center in Fort Worth. My Gladney name was Sandy Gladney.
I am told I was originally placed with a couple who already had a son and they were planning to adopt me, but due to marital problems, they were unable to keep me. In God's perfect timing, I was placed with my family and adopted at thirteen months old. At that time, my sister was almost 15 and my brother would be 20 later that year.
My mother got the child for whom she had prayed - replacing her Joy with a child who couldn't be taken away.
Family created by ChatGPT - not my real family.