May 13, 2020
Ever since Angel was a little girl, she felt like something was missing. And she knew exactly what that thing was: the love and care of her parents.
Angel was born when her parents were still in high school. They didn’t stay together, and her dad left the state after graduation. He never came back to visit.
Her mom was never very interested in having a child. Instead, she wanted to continue living her life as if she didn’t have a daughter at all. She continued going out with friends, staying out until all hours and then sleeping all day instead of spending time with Angel.
Eventually, Angel’s mother made the decision to allow her mother, Angel’s grandmother, to raise her. Once Angel’s mother left her in the custody of her grandmother, she rarely bothered to visit, either.
Angel tried to pretend that it didn’t bother her. Her grandmother took great care of her and was very loving and involved in Angel’s life. She tried to tell herself that longing for her parents made her ungrateful. But no matter what she did, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with her. Because if there wasn’t, wouldn’t her parents have stayed? Wouldn’t they care about her?
Angel was consumed with being perfect, hoping that if she was just good enough, her parents might want to be in her life. But when her grandmother fell down a flight of stairs and had to be hospitalized, Angel felt that it was her fault and that she had somehow failed her.
To make matters worse, when the social worker at the hospital tried to contact her mother to see if Angel could stay with her while her grandmother recovered from her accident, her mother refused to let her stay with her. Angel felt totally alone.
The social worker decided to tell Angel about Mercy Home, explaining it was a safe place to live where there would be a lot of people who cared about her. Angel doubted that there was anybody out there who could care about her but decided to give our Home a try anyway.
The first weeks at Mercy Home were difficult. Angel moved in at what she considered to be the lowest point in her life. She refused to talk to our coworkers or the other girls. She was convinced that she was a failure, and totally unlovable.
But over time, something began to change. Angel decided to open up to her therapist and confess the dark feelings she had been harboring. Releasing them felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
Slowly, Angel was able to open up and she found herself being able to trust others. Today, she finally knows that she is someone worth loving, because the entire Mercy Home family is behind her.
Your kindness shows our kids every day that there are countless people who care about them, even when they feel like they are totally alone. Thank you for being a true Guardian Angel to children like Angel.
Please note: Because we care deeply about protecting our children’s privacy, the names and certain identifying details in this story have been changed.
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You are all in my thoughts and prayers ..and you are my heroes…
God has created kids like you to teach other kids, about faith,hope and love..
God bless you and keep you all together and safe…
Sofia, NY