(½) “In those days there was a blue book in the library...

(½) “In those days there was a blue book in the library with all the faces of children who needed homes.  She was eight years old.  Her foster parents should have been thrown in jail.  No immunization records.  She’d never been to school.  No language skills.  She couldn’t even describe the abuse she’d been through.  But she was a little ball of fire.  Very hyperactive and very cute.  All we saw was this little kid who had nobody.  And we’re looking at her thinking: ‘What’s going to happen if we walk away?’  We had no clue how difficult it was going to be.  You never do.  But there was no time to be scared.  If you’re getting a child with no home and nobody, you’ve got to get over ‘scared.’  You have to pray. You need to have the heart for it.  Because there’s no way you’re going to give them back.  Those first few days I spent so much time with her in a rocking chair: back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.  I kept telling her: ‘This is what I do with my babies.  I rock you in a chair.’  
(Special Olympics World Games, Abu Dhabi, UAE)