Jared Update

Jared has been with us for almost 4 months, hard to believe. This morning his case worker carried him to a doctor's appointment in Memphis. She picked him up at 8:30, and he still isn't home and it's 9:15. He was supposed to be back by 2, but the case worker had another foster child she had to wait on to have admitted into the hospital. I talked to her awhile ago, and she said that Jared had been a real trooper, and he had fallen asleep in the waiting room of the hospital. It has been really different without him here today, I have missed him. I have thought many times about when he leaves to be with his mom again. I know that it will be bitter sweet. Our prayers have been all along for her recovery and reuniting her family again. Jared has done so well here with our family. Jared very seldom talks about his mom and has only cried a couple of times missing her, but some days he will talk constantly about her and his brother. He is trying to remember. It is so sad and breaks my heart for him. We meet with the case workers and his mother in a few weeks for a permanency planning meeting. We have been told that 1 of 3 things will happen. The case workers based on information from us and progress that his mom has or hasn't made will make a recommendation to the judge at her 6 month court of jurisdiction review. The judge will either place Jared back with his mother, give her 6 more months to get it together, or change his plan to adoption. We have been told that this is pretty basic procedure, and lots of times parents will understand the seriousness of losing their child permanently and will really step up to the plate. I really feel like I am in the dark most of the time. What information I have gotten, I have had to basically quiz them, asking tons of questions. Wendy just called and said they should be here soon. She said that he was wonderful today, that she couldn't have asked for a better child. She said that he had talked about us all day, including the dogs! They took him to Build-A-Bear in some of their down time, and he is so excited and ready to get here to show everyone! This experience as foster parents has been one with lots of different emotions experienced from all of us. We are just taking it all one day at a time. Pray for peace for whatever the future holds with Jared.