A few weeks ago I was watching Larry King Live. On this particular episode Larry interviewed the two Florida boys, Alex and Derek King, accused of murdering their father In November, 2001 while still teenagers.
While still in Jail, the younger of the two boys, Alex, met a woman, Kathy, whom would become his unofficial "adoptive" mother, despite the accusations again Alex that he helped his brother murder their father while he was asleep.
After his release from Jail in April, 2008, Alex went to live with this woman and become a member of her family. When asked by Larry King why she did it, the woman stated "It was the mother in me. This boy was abandoned all of his life and passed around in the foster care system. It just broke my heart."
Having grown up in the foster care system myself from an early age and adopted later on when I was 12, I wonder why more potential parents in this country are not more like Kathy. If you know a child has had a troubled childhood why not try and help them with love and encouragement rather than turn a blind eye and convince yourself the child is better off with anyone else.
The truth of the matter is, especially here in Florida, once a child in the foster care system is considered to be "too old" even at the young age of 9-10, the odds of them being adopted and cared for by a proper family becomes less and less.
Since he was released from prison, Alex now lives with Kathy and her family and is enrolled in college. Without the great heart and support Kathy gave to Alex, he would have most likely ended up back in jail or worse.
I cannot judge these boys and say that it was really them who murdered their father. In fact, this blog is not even about them but rather Kathy who opened her heart and her home up to a boy to was clearly troubled but showed him the path to a better future and she did it because she felt "it was the right thing to do."
It's unfortunate more prospective parents cannot follow in Kathy's example.
Thoughts, anyone?
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