Vol. 6, No. 2 May 2002
Why I am proud to be adopted
by Roberta LeVern Jones, age 14, Raleigh
I was the youngest child of many children by many different men. My
biological mother would leave me with anyone while she ran the streets.
My brothers were taking care of me. But one day my brother took me to
Social Services. This is when I met my foster parents, Rev. and Mrs.
Harvey Jones. When I went to their house, I only had the clothes on
my back and some of them belonged to my brothers. My hair had not been
washed or combed for many days. My foster mother took me shopping and
when we got back home, she washed and combed my hair. My hair at that
time was very short and rough. Now my hair is manageable and hangs to
my shoulder.
My foster parents did not have a girl and my foster father loves little
girls. He calls me his Poo-Poo. I dont know what that means but
I know its out of love. I did not feel very good about myself
when I came to the Jones house. But now I feel like somebody. They used
to tell me how pretty I was and how much they cared about me.
When I was about eight, I heard them talking about adopting me. I
wanted to be adopted because I knew I would have their last name too.
Just like my foster brother. My mother even gave me a middle name that
was close to her name. Her name is Vernell, so she gave me the name
of LeVern. They never called me their foster child, they
always introduced me as their special child. That made me
feel good!
In the years that I have been here, I have been introduced to the
finer things of life. They made sure I was placed in the best day care
centers and the best schools. My parents are always at my school whenever
theres PTA or a special occasion. They even gave me piano lessons.
I also took gymnastics. I sing in the choir in my church. My adopted
father was the one that baptized me. The church also adopted me as their
special member. We take a big vacation every year to different
places. These are just some of the things they provided for me that
I knew that no one in my biological family would have done.
Three weeks ago, I went to have braces put on my teeth. They hurt,
but my mother said that it would make my smile even prettier. I try
to make them proud of me. They are proud of me because they always tell
me so.
I love my adopted parents and would not trade them for anything! Thank
you Social Services for making me the happiest person in the world.
Im glad I was adopted.