How A Family Looks To Me

How a family looks is different to everyone. A family can be “blended” in many ways. My family growing up included children who were placed in foster care. So the word “foster”, family, child, sibling, son and daughter is normal to me. Though the word foster itself has little meaning in my eyes, the children that came into my home were instantly my brother or my sister. My interpretation of the evolution of family was grounded in tradition as we all had a role and those roles were set in the traditional sense of the family dynamic. I was 7 years old when my baby brother was born. We went from 3 girls to 3 girls and a boy. Within 3 months of my baby brother being born we became literally the “Brady” bunch, 3 girls and 3 boys. I do not recall knowing my brothers separately they came as a set, but in different ways. I hear some people say that they want to wait until their children get older before they foster. I am not sure why, there is no age that is better then the next to a child. Children are resilient, they adapt and adjust with the support of strong valued parents. I saw my family growing up, as an evolving extension of community .

It makes sense that I migrated to this job at Families First of Florida. Families First of Florida has a strong value towards family. They have foster families that have been with this agency for over 18 years. If you are thinking about becoming a foster parent or have some questions please go to familiesfirstfl.com or call 813-290-8560.