Love makes life worth living, and it is not about doing something big; it can be little acts of kindness to make this world a better place. One perfect and powerful way of spreading love is through adoption, caring for, and loving someone who has never experienced it.
This is the heartwarming story of Barry Farmer, who grew up in Virginia and was placed with his grandmother, Cora, at a very young age. The boy had to go through a lot because his parents couldn’t decide well for their child. Although she was his grandmother, he barely knew her, and things didn’t feel as pleasant as they should have at that age.
He also spent time in foster care and saw the positive side of the world there, but the child always silently wished to experience the love kids get from their parents. Already, the community he was living in was good to him, but he was ignored because of the constant urge to meet his parents, and just like that, the boy turned 17.
When he entered his teenage years, he always journaled about wanting to adopt, as he knew the pain of living without parents. It gives you nothing but a constant sense of loneliness. Moreover, the sense of caring and being kind was embedded in him as a little boy when his mother left him and his younger sister alone. He took care and soon knew he could be a fantastic father. However, the man had little knowledge regarding adoption or foster care.
In 2006, he finally decided to start living independently and worked so hard that he drained all his energy. He did this to afford a living, as he had lived with his grandmother for many years.
While he worked hard and did everything he could to reach his full potential, something was missing, and his life felt hollow. He didn’t realize what it was until one day; he read in a newspaper that people 18 or older could adopt. He was going to turn 20 and knew what he needed in life!
Thus, in no time, he was sitting at adoption centers filling out forms regarding the race, gender, etc, of the child, although he did not like the idea of being selective. All he needed was someone to love and give him a space to flourish.
Because he was going to be a single dad to the child, it was possible that only a few children would be placed with him, but his first placement was with a boy in his teenage years. He was there with him for only six months.
The second placement shocked him as it was a 7-year-old white boy, something he did not expect. Although he panicked, knowing the boy was from a different race, he was so ready to love him and ended up adopting him.
A few years later, he adopted two more boys who were also alive. It is a perfect example of how love does not see race or color; it is just the society that has kept humans limited to a particular kind. It has now been 11 years since the adoption, and being a dad to three kids has been the best time of his life. It felt like finally finding peace in the chaos.
Although people do question him regarding why he chose to adopt kids, love is the only thing that has mattered to him!
