Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

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Feb 20, 2006

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It appears that this story did not come out properly.?  So I am republishing, hopely zinester will format it properly this time.

If not please ask Rosanne for the Story, and she will gladly send it to you.

THE FORGOTTEN CHILD

By Rosanne Catalano

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???That poor little boy across the street??¦??? she began telling her husband,

as he walked in the front door that night.

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???Why? What happened???? he asked, removing his scarf

and coat.

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???His mom abandoned little Jerry and her parents and ran off to

Pennsylvania with her new boyfriend.???

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???What?! I thought she was married??¦??? Ralph exclaimed.

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???What we saw from across the street was not the truth of Katie??™s

situation,??? she began to tell her hubby, sitting down at the

kitchen

table. ???Katie and her son, Jerry, were living with her parents??¦

she had told me she had moved in with them shortly after Jerry??™s

father abandoned her and the little boy one day.???

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???And now she is abandoning her little boy by running off with

this new guy.???

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???So where does that leave little Jerry???? her husband asked,

plopping into a chair across from her.

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???Most likely, he??™ll be put into a foster home, if his grandparents can??™t

care for him??¦ Let??™s pray and hope that little boy doesn??™t

have to go

into a foster home; that his grandparents will take care of him

and don??™t

feel they??™re too old to do so.??? She said.

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???Well, let??™s see??¦ We could inquire about adopting little Jerry, when

the situation calls

for it.???

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???The only thing is our lifestyle isn??™t conducive to us having a child

living with us, sweetheart.??? She said, sighing.

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???I know, but we shall see what happens. All we can do now is pray to

God that he takes good care of that poor little boy,??? he said.

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???God, I pray to you for that scared little boy and his family who

lives across the street from us; even though I was always jealous

of

the attention Katie paid to my hubby, I always had lots of affection

for the

little boy??¦ poor kid. Amen.??? she said, making the sign of the cross to end

her prayers.

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???Actually, I think they took little Jerry to the Medical Center because the

grandparents weren??™t able to take care of the boy, and the neighbors

had

begun to notice he wasn??™t very well-cared for, the house was

falling down

around them, and the mother, Katie, didn??™t seem to care or didn??™t

have

the money to care,??? she told her hubby this latest news, that

she had

heard from their landlord upstairs.

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???Then there were signs of abuse to the boy???? he asked.

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???Not sure, but the neighbors, and then the grandparents, had

called the

police on Katie??¦ Katie just up and moved to Pennsylvania with

her new

boyfriend without taking her son, so the grandparents called the

police

or the neighbors did??¦ I??™m sorry, Hon, but I got this information

from the

landlord and I??™m not even sure she knows all of what happened

across

the street,??? she said, getting up to pour another cup of

coffee.

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???In any case, I??™ve been sitting here all day thinking of a way to help

poor little Jerry??¦ Maybe as soon as they discharge him from the Medical

Center, we could inquire as to who will be taking care of him??¦ Would

it be

possible to put him in our home ??“ we could be Jerry??™s foster parents until they

find another home for him???? she asked, sitting back down at the kitchen

table.

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???Baby girl, you know our lifestyle is definitely not conducive for a kid??¦???

he

began, gruffly getting up and beginning to pace the kitchen. ???Especially not

for a three-year-old!???

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???I know,??? she agreed. ???Now I feel as if my hands are tied??¦ I want to help the

little boy but we really can??™t.???

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When I realized the good Lord was not going to bless us with any biological

children of our own, I figured I could give the love I have to give to the

en of the world who needed us to help them. But, as my hubby said, the

truth of

the matter was that we were both in our late-40??™s and only had two cats to

care for??¦ We were used to coming and going as we pleased. That is

what

made it so hard??¦ They both knew there was no way the courts would even

consider them as foster parents, because of their age.

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???What a shame,??? she said. ???It is not fair, I tell you!???

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???I know, Princess,??? he said, putting his arms around her in a bear-like

embrace.

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She was remembering what her hubby and her mother told her many times;

that ???charity begins at home??¦???

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She hated to admit it, but they were right. Besides sponsoring Hermalinda

years ago, the only other charity she had offered was to her sister and her

two girls??¦ when her sister??™s ex-husband had walked out on her and

their two

daughters two days after Thanksgiving. She had begun to help her sister out

whenever she could by babysitting as much as possible so that her sister

could

go out with friends on occasion, and would often help her nieces??™ with their

homework right after school or, when her sister??™s girls were little, she would

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read them bedtime stories until they fell asleep so that her

sister

had free time

to herself.

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The one thought that kept going through her mind was, ???That poor

little boy across the street??¦ Now he has no family to speak of??¦ His

mom abandoned him along with her parents (little Jerry??™s

grandparents) to run off to Pennsylvania with her new boyfriend,

and

I don??™t understand why she would abandon her own son!???

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She picked up the telephone to make some inquiry calls at the medical

center to find out how little Jerry was faring, and ended up saying to

the hospital receptionist, ???I would like to inquire how to go about

foster

parenting a little boy who was brought in for neglect by his

mother.???

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Copyright ?© January 2006 by Rosanne Catalano

ctrosanne@aol.com