about it, hadn’t thought of it in years—five years, actually, given the date in the corner. As she read it, the day she’d composed it came back to her in vivid detail—the thunderstorm that had been raging outside, the way she’d jumped at every clap of thunder, the piercing pain in her heart she’d tried to alleviate through her words.
Dear Saundra,
I’ve been wanting to write this letter a long time, but wasn’t sure how I would ever find you to send it. But then I saw the article on Bradley in the paper and I figured out I could just send it to his office in Denver. I hope it gets to you okay.
The letter went on to update Saundra of her graduation from foster care, her entrance into cosmetology school, and her temporary job at a grocery store. She asked a few questions about Saundra’s family, and then moved on to her real reason for writing.
I really just wanted to thank you for taking me in. I don’t think I ever said thank you when I was living with you, and I know I didn’t say it when I went back into foster care because I was too mad at the time. I know no one ever wants the older kids. They always want the babies that don’t come with all the emotional baggage. But the older kids are the ones that really need a family, even if it’s just for a few years. So thank you for taking a chance on a teenager and for letting me see what a real family is like.
There’s actually another reason I’m writing. There’s something I need to get off my chest, because it’s been eating at me for a long time now. Remember when I took the car out that one night and got the front end banged up, and I said I hit a deer? Well, that’s not exactly what happened…
Kim remembered sitting on her bed, desperate to spill the entire story but unable to put pen to paper. She wanted so badly to tell someone, and Saundra O’Riley—being so far away, so far removed now from everything—seemed like the best person to tell. Besides, it had been her car that Kim had been driving. But she never finished the letter.
The O’Rileys were a sweet couple to Kim and their two adopted children. They’d chosen Kim when she was fourteen, two weeks before she started high school. By then, Kim had been in three other foster homes. The first family treated their four foster children as slave labor, and the next one had been great, but the farm they had lived on had not been—that was when they discovered Kim’s severe allergy to hay. The last set of foster parents before the O’Rileys had wanted to adopt her, but she had refused based on their penchant for turning their adopted children into religious zealots.
Before all of that, Kim had actually had a mom.
When Patricia had arrived with the O’Rileys to meet Kim, she’d been wary about trying another family. Part of her kept hoping she’d get lucky, but mostly she was tired of the back-and-forth between group homes and families. A new family meant new rules and new environment, another awkward period of feeling like she was on loan from some human library—here, try this one out, see what you think. Only the knowledge that this family was looking to eventually adopt made her at all interested in leaving the familiarity of the group home. Plus, they had one adopted daughter already, who was three years older than Kim, and that made Kim feel a little better—they’d pulled the trigger with someone else; maybe they would with her too.
Saundra O’Riley worked part-time as a secretary, but she was always home when Kim got back from school. Bradley O’Riley was a trial lawyer, and for a little while Kim had a bit of a crush on him. He was handsome and tall and funny, though more serious when he was on a case. He didn’t talk much about the trials he was involved in, but she always knew when they were over because he started telling jokes again.
When she turned sixteen the O’Rileys offered to help her get her driver’s license, and also announced that they’d proceed
Dear Saundra,
I’ve been wanting to write this letter a long time, but wasn’t sure how I would ever find you to send it. But then I saw the article on Bradley in the paper and I figured out I could just send it to his office in Denver. I hope it gets to you okay.
The letter went on to update Saundra of her graduation from foster care, her entrance into cosmetology school, and her temporary job at a grocery store. She asked a few questions about Saundra’s family, and then moved on to her real reason for writing.
I really just wanted to thank you for taking me in. I don’t think I ever said thank you when I was living with you, and I know I didn’t say it when I went back into foster care because I was too mad at the time. I know no one ever wants the older kids. They always want the babies that don’t come with all the emotional baggage. But the older kids are the ones that really need a family, even if it’s just for a few years. So thank you for taking a chance on a teenager and for letting me see what a real family is like.
There’s actually another reason I’m writing. There’s something I need to get off my chest, because it’s been eating at me for a long time now. Remember when I took the car out that one night and got the front end banged up, and I said I hit a deer? Well, that’s not exactly what happened…
Kim remembered sitting on her bed, desperate to spill the entire story but unable to put pen to paper. She wanted so badly to tell someone, and Saundra O’Riley—being so far away, so far removed now from everything—seemed like the best person to tell. Besides, it had been her car that Kim had been driving. But she never finished the letter.
The O’Rileys were a sweet couple to Kim and their two adopted children. They’d chosen Kim when she was fourteen, two weeks before she started high school. By then, Kim had been in three other foster homes. The first family treated their four foster children as slave labor, and the next one had been great, but the farm they had lived on had not been—that was when they discovered Kim’s severe allergy to hay. The last set of foster parents before the O’Rileys had wanted to adopt her, but she had refused based on their penchant for turning their adopted children into religious zealots.
Before all of that, Kim had actually had a mom.
When Patricia had arrived with the O’Rileys to meet Kim, she’d been wary about trying another family. Part of her kept hoping she’d get lucky, but mostly she was tired of the back-and-forth between group homes and families. A new family meant new rules and new environment, another awkward period of feeling like she was on loan from some human library—here, try this one out, see what you think. Only the knowledge that this family was looking to eventually adopt made her at all interested in leaving the familiarity of the group home. Plus, they had one adopted daughter already, who was three years older than Kim, and that made Kim feel a little better—they’d pulled the trigger with someone else; maybe they would with her too.
Saundra O’Riley worked part-time as a secretary, but she was always home when Kim got back from school. Bradley O’Riley was a trial lawyer, and for a little while Kim had a bit of a crush on him. He was handsome and tall and funny, though more serious when he was on a case. He didn’t talk much about the trials he was involved in, but she always knew when they were over because he started telling jokes again.
When she turned sixteen the O’Rileys offered to help her get her driver’s license, and also announced that they’d proceed
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