My forever family
Meadow Beyer, third place
“Family is not defined by our genes, it is built and maintained through love.”
— Amalia G When I was two I was put into foster care along with my four-month-old sister. My biological parents made poor choices and were incarcerated. They were in and out of rehab clinics, I don’t remember much more of that and for that I am glad. That’s how I came into foster care. My foster parents were very loving and caring to my sister and I. They welcomed us with open arms. Then when I was in kindergarten we were adopted by them. My parents still do foster care. I think that the most memorable moment was when my older sister told me that she would always be there for me and love me no matter what. I knew that they would always be there and love me but, it’s hard to explain how it felt to actually hear those words. It gave me goosebumps like when you here a beautiful song. That just makes you want to cry not because you’re sad but because you’re so happy. They have made a wonderful difference in my life. If my parents and siblings weren’t so giving and showed me unconditional love, I don’t even know where I would be now. I don’t always show it or say it but, I am extremely grateful for my parents and siblings because they love me for who I am and they care about me.
I have learned from this experience that people should forgive and love others because everyone deserves forgiveness. After I was adopted, I learned to forgive my biological parents for taking such poor care of themselves and my sister and I. It has been difficult to forgive but over time I have learned to forgive. I don’t think they realized how much doing drugs and making bad decisions hurt them and others who loved and cared about them. Thankfully I don’t have to worry about not being loved or not having a family that can care for me. Now I have a great family! It’s that love that has given me a better life and my forever family that I am very grateful to be a part of!
This is now how I want to live my life, with forgiveness. When my friends are talking about how they’re mad at a certain person because they did this or that. I try to stay out of it because it’s going to be over within like two weeks so why should it matter. I wish that they would understand that and forgive others because if you stay mad at a person for a long time, it’s going to get you nowhere in life. Being mad at someone never helps solve the problem. So you should just forgive and move on already, otherwise, you’re going to carry that hate with you forever and it’s going to make you a terrible person. That’s not the type of person that you want to be. You want to be happy in life and make the best out of it, not unhappy and negative about everything. And of course, life isn’t always going to be happy and perfect because things happen you just have to learn how to deal with them and keep going, just make the best out of it. Just keep loving and forgiving others and you will do great.
