Another Place at the Table-Summer Book

As a child of adoption, I had to spend a brief two months in foster care; neither of which I even slightly remember, so when I decided upon a book sharing the story of a life of a foster mom, I had low expectations, but I was blown away. Never have I felt such respect for a single human being after reading Another Place at the Table. Kathy Harrison's story is one for the big-hearted and the open-minded. I was crying within 13 pages, and felt a cornucopia of other emotions throughout the book's entirety. The book touches on an array of lessons-- from compassion to good parenting to learning to love for a child. I took more out of it than I expected in many different ways.

Kathy Harrison and her husband Bruce started in their early 40s with full time jobs and three of their own children, and their lives were about to get crazy. Kathy came upon two children growing up in a rotten family and a rotting household, and for the first time in her life she was introduced to the idea of adopting. After adopting her first two children, Kathy wanted to do more. She wanted to be able to reach out to other children who needed just as much love and help as the new additions to her family. At this point, Kathy began to consider foster care. It started out slowly with maybe a child or two for short periods of time, and things were going well. Then Kathy was asked to be a part of the hot-line service that foster care provides. That would mean that DSS could call her at any point throughout the day or night if a child needed a place to stay. Most of these children were special needs children. Now I don't know about you, but when I hear "special needs" I think of mental disabilities and children needing special attention, but the stories that followed the children that entered Kathy's home were unlike anything I could predict.

The first story that shook me was David's, a ten-month old who suffered from abuse by both parents. He was found on the floor of a warehouse surrounded by young adults that apparently had made a night of drunkenly beating him. His father 16 and his mother 15, and pregnant again, were not there when Kathy took David to the E.R. for x-rays. At this point in the story, my eyes were dream and my mind was still expecting a situation of normal circumstances, especially for such a young baby. But that wasn't the case at all. The doctor came out to inform Kathy that, "He's had five broken ribs, and his arm has healed fractures. This has apparently been going on for months." I put the book down and gasped. My eyes started to tear up, and while you do hear of these stories, they seem to be rare, but the things is--they're not. At all.

There were long nights, frustration, and anger described frequently throughout the book, but they were the moments of courage, love, and hope that kept me reading so diligently. While every child that entered the house had something uniquely and powerfully wrong with their lifestyle, the most impacting to me was the child Sara. Sara busted into this house angry and completely unfortunate to finally be in a safe place. She attempted to hide bruises and cuts by long sleeves and her hair was pulled out in places spotting her head. Sara was not a force to be reckoned with, and she made that known. But all Kathy wanted was to reach out to her, to help her, to give her hope. This child clearly had very little. Through a few pages of reading, I quickly learned that Sara had been raped by her father, her step-father, her uncle, and her brother. It seemed that almost every male figure in her life had harmed her in either a physically or sexual way. Sara didn't trust a single person. Sara didn't trust the bath. Sara didn't trust the car. She had a traumatizing reason for each as well. But love was forced upon this child. Kathy wouldn't have it any other way. Her progress was little, but intense by the end of the book, but of course I won't give that away.

Never have I really been able to wrap my head around the love my adoptive parents give me. I've never understood the process in which they were chosen as my parents in. Basically, I knew very little about anything that led me to the home and family I'm blessed with today. This book helped in all of those areas. By the end of the story, Kathy had adopted two more children besides the two she adopted at the beginning of the story. Within every page, I just wanted her to adopt every child that didn't have someone and needed stability, but through beautiful illustration I understand the love that an adoptive parent can give. In my mind, Kathy Harrison and her husband are saints. They gave so much more than shelter to so many kids, and changed the lives of numerous families in their area. Foster care is a topic that rarely gets mentioned and rarely appreciated. After this book, I can sternly say that that won't be the case for me anymore.