Foster Care Saved My Life

Foster care saved my life.

I know "saved my life" is really a simple, laymen term that kind-of covers it; however, it also may be a little too simplistic for the real depth of what that means for me.

Before foster care my perception of family was a broken one. My perception of self-value was empty. My perception of human-worth was obsolete.

I lived in a home consumed by addiction, mental illness, violence, and poverty. I sat as a child, locked in a room, only to be confined to my worst fears which never seemed to subside.

I'm sure there were people fighting for me.

I'm sure there were people fighting to make my family-system better. I'm sure there were people…right?

You see, in the moment it didn’t seem that way. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. And when the scary, police officer touched my shoulder with the promise “they” would keep me safe, I wanted to believe him, even if I felt it was a lie.

 As a traumatized, 12 year old, girl, who'd been there before, I didn't fully trust the uniform. But oddly, the system he served under was the softest security I'd felt in years.

The day I was put into foster care was the first day my eyes were opened to opportunities outside of the only life I'd come to know. That day foster care began to show me options outside of the ones I had grown up with. Suddenly, my ignorance had become an open path for experience.                                                                                                            
Sure…not all the options and experiences were good but neither were all the options and experiences bad. And, overall, I guess I couldn’t help but feel grateful to finally…. finally….yes, finally…. have another option.

So, I guess the truth is foster care DID NOT save me, rather it helped me to learn to save myself.