Day by day, I realized I couldn’t let her be placed in foster care.
Two months later, I signed the adoption papers.
***
That first year almost broke me.
« That’s not a bad thing. »
From the moment she came into my life, she became my entire world.
Lily cried almost every night for a mother I couldn’t bring back.
I paced the hallway at 3 a.m. with a toddler on my shoulder and a shift starting at 6 a.m.
I worked long hours, with family assisting with babysitting.
But slowly, quietly, things got better, and she became the reason I came home.