With only the clothes on their back

We hear that kids come with only the clothes on their back.  This is true.  CPS tries to give babies blankets made by the gentle hands of the Linus foundation and a binkie.  But little else grace the frames of these children.

Miriam showed up in her school uniform.  No she didn't attend private school.  She was in a school that required a uniform.  She had a cute little navy blue skirt, white cotton shirt and mary jane shoes.  Her clean, freckled cheeks were framed by beautiful gold hoop earrings and she wore a gold bracelet.  Brian had a medallion of Our Lady.  He wore a cute one piece outfit and sturdy shoes.

That was it!  So off to Wall Mart the new little family rode.  We needed sneakers and jeans for Miriam.  We needed shorts and tees for Bryan.  Oh and diapers.  Lots of diapers.

By the time we had dinner and arrived at Wall Mart it was quite later than we wanted.  We went directly to the shoe department.  Miriam picked out a pair of Bratz shoes.  They were not her size.  I explained to her that the shoes were too large and she would have sore feet by wearing them.  She was unhappy and was very verbal about it.  At that point she decided to start a game of running off in the store.  Dear husband ran after her.  I stayed back with the little boy.  I figured as soon as she got herself lost, we'd tell Wal Mart what happened and the doors would close.  She would have to explain why she ran off.  Soon she was convinced that the Bratz shoes would not be purchased and she was wasting time that she could be shopping for jeans.

After dropping a couple hundred dollars at Wall Mart, we headed home.


I remember as I tucked in the two newest angels how they both looked as the day waned.  I remember the smooth cheeks that I kissed.  I whispered to Miriam, “Anything you want or need, please come get me no matter how late it is”.  She smiled brightly and whispered goodnight.  She was so sweet, so alone in this big, big world.  I actually felt like I had a purpose.