WELCOME: Big Brother is Home

The house was recently buzzing as our eldest son came home with his girlfriend Jeanie for a visit. Pito came home and surprised the kids. We haven't seen him since last summer when we took a trip to New York. It was such a wonderful visit and we all had the time to spend some quality time together.

Many of my readers are probably curious and didn't know we had another son besides Matthew. Well, Pito came into our lives back in 1997 when he was almost 14 years old. I worked as a Caseworker at Pius XII foster care and adoption agency for almost 10 years and resigned upon the birth of my daughter Taryn in 1996. Soon after, I was contacted by the agency to see if my hubby and I wanted to be foster parents for 2 teenagers who had recently come into care. Without much hesitation we decided we would open our home up to Pito and his sister Jackie as well as several other young people who needed our help and our love.

Jackie was 16 and Pito was about to turn 14 when they came to our home. They both fell into the routine of the Smith home and quickly became members of our family. Jackie became a single mother at an early age and left our home to attend college. Pito remained in our home for another 3 years and left to attend Job Corp in the state of Maine. He graduated high school and left upstate NY to live in New York City where he continues to live today. Jackie gave birth to a beautiful little girl Alexis in May of 1998 and now is attending graduate school in Chicago, Ill. Pito is currently employed at a drug treatment center in NY as a drug treatment counselor. We are so proud of both Pito and Jackie.

Having them as a part of our lives has been such a amazing, challenging.... but mostly, rewarding experience. Being a foster parent has taught me that I have so much of myself to give to others. They have taught me to love unconditionally. They were victims of hard circumstances, yet they keep loving and holding out hope for the best. We gave them our best as well as love and direction and commitment that they yearned for. Love is not always enough, but when you add unlimited patience and a sense of humor, you can usually get through.

I had a wonderful conversation with Pito while he was here, a Mom to Son conversation which was amazing and extremely heartfelt. We talked about life in general and about his plans for the future and it amazed me to see this young man standing in front of me with thoughts, hope and dreams and a vision to reach his goals. He thanked me for being a wonderful Mom to him and thanked me and my hubby for believing in him and for being such an influential part of his life. All of those years of dedication, devotion, and unconditional love really paid off when he thanked us for helping him become the man he is today.

I am one proud Mom and I am happy to call him, My Son!