A knock at the door, 

a parcel for Tia

No deliveries expected, an early Christmas present?

 

 A Cadbury's box, much too tempting to be left under the tree.

Besides, there might be a note from the sender

 It really should be checked out.

  The Little Princess pounced on her favourites, 

And I found the note

And told her all the chocolates were for me.

 Six years ago, I brought a baby boy home from hospital. A tiny baby boy, wrapped in a blanket, frail and exhausted and with a range of interesting medical problems. 

He stayed with us for a little while, and I told my friend about him, and about how he was going to need a forever family. 

And he went to lovely carers, and I gained my lovely Little Princess, and we met at hospital sometimes, and I had reports about him, and thought that was the end of it. 

But then he came back. He and tLP had great fun together; gone was the fragile baby, and here was the bouncing toddler. Still with a frightening number of medical problems, but doing generally rather better than people had anticipated. 

And I told my friend about him, and how he needed a place to stay, and I told the social workers about my friend.

And it took quite a while, but now they are mother and son forever, and in the midst of their celebrations, they found time to remember the date, and to send a parcel of chocolate weighing more than that little baby did the first time I held him.

I'm not a foster carer any more; something it still feels fairly strange to tell people. And I don't know what's happened to a lot of the children I have fostered - I hear the initial endings and then life moves on and that's how it should be. I don't forget the children, but they settle into new families or back with original families, and the period of time they spent with me is filed under temporary aberration, unfortunate episode, or something more positive but still finished. That's fine; as far as I know, they have gone on to have very happy lives and I'm pleased to have played a part in it all. But it is very lovely to have been remembered, and it is lovely to know that we will stay connected. And it's always lovely to have chocolate! And yes, I did agree to share it. 

Tia