After college in 2014, I moved to Juticalpa, Honduras, to teach at a bilingual high school for a year. That experience changed my life. I made friends I still keep in touch with today, and I built lasting connections with my students and fellow teachers. One of the most meaningful parts of my time there was visiting a children’s home called Hogar almost every day. Two children there, Angelica and Jose Alberto, had a huge impact on me. When I met them, Angelica was just three months old and Jose Alberto was 10. We played, helped with homework, and bonded. Today they’re 8 and 18, and I still video chat with them every year.
When I left Honduras in 2015, I thought I might adopt Angelica someday. At the time I was naive and didn’t understand how adoption really worked. I looked into it but realized it wasn’t possible or even what was best for her. Over the years, I’ve visited again and stayed in touch, but I let go of that dream and focused on being part of their lives from afar.
Back in the U.S., I spent the next several years teaching students with disabilities. I learned how to support kids with different needs, work with families, and be patient and flexible. Those lessons later prepared me for foster care, though I didn’t know it at the time.
When the pandemic hit, I was 28, single, and living alone with my dog. I felt ready to be a mom but wasn’t sure how. I researched adoption but realized traditional adoption didn’t feel right for me. Through Instagram, I connected with foster parents and decided fostering might be the path I was meant to take. I reached out to DCFS in Illinois and got licensed in September 2020.
Becoming a foster mom as a single person had challenges, but it also gave me the freedom to decide what worked best for my family. My first placement came that fall a sweet little boy who later became known on my social media as “Mister Man.” His previous foster mom became one of my best friends, and that friendship has been a huge blessing.
In less than a year, I went from having no kids to fostering three children under the age of four. It turned my world upside down. Parenting is hard enough, but I also had to manage relationships with biological families, learn about trauma, work on my teaching career, and survive a pandemic all while barely sleeping. People told me how amazing I was, but what I really felt was overwhelmed. I eventually went back to therapy, and it helped me keep going when I wanted to quit.
There were tough moments, weeks of quarantine, constant sickness, crying from exhaustion but therapy taught me to ask for help, set boundaries, and accept that I can’t do everything perfectly. My family and friends stepped up and have been so supportive of my foster kids. We moved into a new home with more space, found a daycare that fits our needs, and slowly settled into a rhythm. My house is often messy, the laundry piles up, and dinner is sometimes frozen pizza, but that’s okay. My uncle once told me, “When people come to your house, they come to see you, not your mess,” and I hold onto that.
Today my three placements Cookie Monster, Mister Man, and Peanut have been with me for over 18 months. Their cases are still in limbo, and I don’t know what the future holds, but they’re welcome in my home as long as needed. I’ve learned that foster care is a roller coaster, full of ups and downs, but I wouldn’t trade the lessons or love I’ve found. Maybe someday I’ll meet someone to share this journey with, but for now, I’m grateful for my kids, my support system, and the life we’re building together.
