Spring Time in the Waiting Area

It was finally time to do our interviews for the home study. I had scheduled mine first and I was to meet the person that was interviewing us at 8 am at the same building we had been taking our classes. When I got to the building I did our usual sign and in but instead of going down the hallway to the left, where all the rooms were that we attended our classes, this time I went to the right.

Almost immediately I was in a room that opened up into a waiting area. I noticed the waiting area was decorated with a fun spring time type theme on the walls. There was a large tree that had big green leaves growing from it and in the tree some small birds had made home. There were bright flowers all over the bottom of walls mixed with long green grass that reminded me of Spring. The furniture in the room was old and worn. There were about 10 adult chairs in the room and in one corner sat a child size table and chairs along with a few toys and puzzles.

The room was lovely but the energy of the people in the room was felt immediately. It was hard not feel the mixed feelings that came from this room....including my own nervousnes. As I walked up to the reception desk the lady didn't even look up or smile she just asked who I was here to see. I told her my name and explained that I was there for my home study and she told me to have a seat. As I looked around the room for a place to sit I couldn't help but soak in what was going on around me. I took my chair against one wall of the room so I wasn't in the way of all that was going on.

On one side of the room sat a foster mother and three children...one of the children was asleep in a baby carrier. She looked so innocent sleeping there even while she was surrounded by the chaos of the room...she slept peacefully covered in her pink blankets while her older sister was crying. The woman, with these three young girls, I recognized as one of the foster mother's that had spoken at one of our classes. She was talking to the oldest sister, who was about 5, that had started to cry because she didn't want to go see her mommy. When the foster mother tried to console her the little girl just kept saying take us back to your house..I don't want to see Mommy! The young girl crying had made the middle child nervous and she jumped up from her puzzle on the floor and began to hide behind the crying sister. As I watched the foster mother in all her wisdom try ease the minds of these small children about a visit with their own mother I could only wonder what caused the fear that made this small child cry. The foster mother told the children that it was going to be fun to see their mommy and she tried to remind them of the last time they came and saw their mommy and how fun it was....but the older girl just cried and said she didn't want to go. The scene was heart breaking...to listen to a small child cry because she didn't want to see her mommy....what had this mother done to break this child's young heart?

The room was full of people...social workers running in and out. Foster parents exchanging children with biological parents for visits. Phones were ringing and children were either squealing in excitment or crying. I don't think I moved except to breath as I sat against that wall and took it all in. Then on the other side of the room sat a couple that got my attention only becaused they seemed to stand still in a room that was constantly moving.

They were alone and had no children with them. They looked so young sitting there. I would have guessed they weren't even 20 years old. The young girl seemed very nervous and the young man slept in the chair next her. It wasn't long before a door opened up and their names were called and she nudged him to wake up and the social worker said to them....Are you ready for your visit? She anxiously shook her head up and down saying yes...while he shrugged his shoulders and said...Lets do this. I was disgusted they were there to see their children...that means they had done something bad enough to have their children taken away...they were kids themselves on top of it. And to me he was a punk! Just as I started to come up with my own story in my head about what they had done and how they got into this situation....when mind you I had absolutely no facts what so ever to their case...I heard my name!

When I looked up, I saw the woman that was going to be doing our interviews. She was an older women maybe in her early 60's. She had a friendly smile and warm eyes. As I got to the door she reached out her hand to grab mine and said....I am Violet it is so good to meet you. I shook her hand and said thanks for doing this for us. As we walked down another hallway I had never seen she glanced back at me and said I can't wait to get to know you better. I took a deep breath giggled and said...I can't wait until this is over! She laughed with me and we headed into the room where I would be for the next four hours.