Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008

Finding a 'forever' home

It took eight months of love, patience and constant reassurance before Patricia, then age 10, felt comfortable enough to call her "Mom."

When it finally happened, Glenda Osteen's spirits soared "over the moon," said the Turlock foster mother. Patricia had spent the previous two years in a Sierra Vista group home and "she needed to know I wasn't going anywhere."

It took two more years for the adoption to go through. The celebration came less than two weeks ago -- fittingly, in the middle of November, designated as National Adoption Month.

Sierra Vista Child and Family Services started in 1972 as a group home and since has evolved into an extensive resource for abused, neglected and emotionally disturbed children and families in crisis. Its many programs include foster and adoption services.

Osteen, a former hospital office coordinator, was more than happy to say goodbye to her three biological children and a stepchild when they matured many years ago, she said. She was actively involved in raising two grandchildren, who also moved on as they came of age.

"Then I found out that silence is kind of loud," Osteen said.

A friend raved about being a Sierra Vista foster mother. Osteen discovered that misconceptions about foster require-

ments are many; the truth is, single people and older people, like her, aren't dismissed out of hand.

Some foster parents end up adopting, like Osteen. But she also parents a 17-year-old girl and her 15-year-old brother. And she just took in a baby with Down syndrome, a decision arrived at jointly after much family discussion.

"I'm just doing what I know," Osteen said of the choice to care for young people. That would include Patricia, her "forever" child.

Now 13, Patricia embraces the security she'd never known. She and her adoptive mother enjoy grocery shopping, yard sales, kittens and scrapbooking. When you know somebody wants you, you're more free to dream about the future, she said -- college, maybe a veterinary career or even her own family.

"She'll take good care of me," Patricia said. "I'm going to be here a long time."