After seven years the truth came out
Kris Smith’s life started out tough. Throughout her childhood she went from one foster family to another, moving again and again. Abuse and neglect were the rule, not the exception. It was no surprise that she left home at 14 to make her own way in the world.
Life as a runaway wasn’t any easier though. She went from difficult relationships to begging and sleeping on the street. When she was just 17 she gave birth to her son Matthew. After he was born she moved in with an alcoholic man and despite the constant conflict, she tried for several years to keep her little family together.
You can watch the whole very moving story here:
She gave him up so he could have a better life. Seven years later she found out the bitter truth
August 8, 2020 admin
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After seven years the truth came out
Kris Smith’s life started out tough. Throughout her childhood she went from one foster family to another, moving again and again. Abuse and neglect were the rule, not the exception. It was no surprise that she left home at 14 to make her own way in the world.
Life as a runaway wasn’t any easier though. She went from difficult relationships to begging and sleeping on the street. When she was just 17 she gave birth to her son Matthew. After he was born she moved in with an alcoholic man and despite the constant conflict, she tried for several years to keep her little family together.
You can watch the whole very moving story here:
Then she got pregnant a second time. But this time her daughter died within a few days of the birth. Her burial took place on Matthew’s third birthday. For Kris it was too much: “I had to celebrate the life of one child and grieve the life of another on the same day. And I fell apart.”
But the tragedy made something clear, something that broke her heart. She simply wasn’t able to offer Matthew the life that she wanted for him. And so she put him up for adoption. He was three and a half, she was 21. But she felt at the time that it was the right decision for him.
By this time she had separated from her partner. The next seven years were restless ones: she had no clear direction and wasn’t able to find her place in the world. She was homeless sometimes, and hopeless often.
Then one day everything changed. Kris walked into a restaurant and got up her courage to ask for work. The owner recognized something in Kris and wanted to give her a chance. Her whole life made a U-turn. Now that she was working she managed to get an apartment and started to get her life in order.
Soon after that she met a new man, Joe, who treated her respectfully. It was a completely new experience for her. Until then she had only had bad experiences. Now she was getting to know real love.
Eventually Kris and Joe got married. He was a great father himself and Kris got to know what it was like to be part of a loving family.
But her own child? She thought about him all the time. Finally, inspired by Joe and strengthened by her newfound support, she decided to contact youth welfare services and ask what had happened to Matthew. What she learned was not at all what she expected: in all those seven years since she had given him up, no one had adopted Matthew. In all the years that she had cried over pictures of him and wondered how he was, he had been down the road at an institution.
She drove straight there and what happened next was an emotional reunion for all involved. The social workers rarely see a case like this: now that the mother’s life was stable, she could take Matthew home with her, or rather, adopt back her own son. Kris still can’t believe that she has her own son with her, that she can hold him in her arms again, that he’s not lost to her forever.
The photograph of the day she received official custody again will always have a special place of honor on the wall of their living room.
What a beautiful resolution to a difficult story: Kris not only overcame so many obstacles to build a stable life for herself, she also found her son again. It’s good for all of us to remember that these kinds of transformations are possible. After such a serendipitous reunion it’s impossible not to wish this family the very best — for their future together!
