The baby was always going for adoption but the legal niceties had taken forever and so she was nearly two when her SW 'phoned and said a likely couple had been found and could she bring them over...
I thought them thick as two short planks actually and struggled to make any conversation at all and the SW was probably the most gormless girl I'd ever had the misfortune to meet...she sat twiddling her hair and smiling inanely while we made small talk and I showed them the life story book I'd made for the baby...
They were pleasant enough...just not terribly bright...but the baby wasn't awfully bright either. A friend had taken baby out for the afternoon so they didn't meet her the first time...another visit was arranged for the following day when they'd meet with the baby and they were bringing the little boy they'd adopted a couple of years previously.
That evening the 'phone rang and it was Andy the builder...he'd installed a new bathroom and had been to look at second-hand ranges which he declared to be feckin useless...would we consider buying a new one? I told him to have a look and let me know how much they were...he'd already done so and had asked his wife to choose the one she'd like... to install for us...I had a sudden vision of an enormous range with multiple ovens that'd cost an arm and a leg so asked would he wait on that until we moved...in the meantime he was going to do the plumbing in the kitchen.
Not two minutes later Norma rang...Norma and Ron had been fostering for donkeys years and they had John, who was then about eighteen. John had Downs and had limited speech and abilities. They'd met with T. often when they been to visit us and had thought they could manage him...I could have snatched her hand off. They were a down to earth middle-aged couple who never stood for any nonsense...ideal for T.
I couldn't wait to ring Harry the next morning and tell him...he agreed immediately. We arranged for T to go to stay for the weekend to see how it went.
An acquaintance who also had a small home and fostered children with profound disabilities called the next evening...would we consider her and her husband taking on M...one of our little girls. We'd had M living with us for almost ten years and she was going to be the very hardest for me to say goodbye to...I knew they'd be the right kind of people and said yes quickly, before I changed my mind. She said she'd contact Harry to sort it out.
I sat at the kitchen table with a large glass of red wine and sobbed.
G. came in and looked at me for a minute...then he put the kettle on and sat down with a thump at the other end of the table...'Never mind, he said brightly...it'll all come out in the wash'
We sold the glass greenhouse to one of the teachers at the special school...then she came back and bought the wooden shed as well...
The prisoner Himself used to visit in the local prison every two weeks, was terribly upset that he wouldn't be visiting after September...but a transfer was arranged and he was able to go to Ford Open prison where the regime was less strict and that helped somewhat.
Time was moving on...I booked the ferry crossing and bought carriers for the cats...advertised our vehicle...it had wheelchair ramps and such-like and that was sold within a week and gave notice to our landlord...
It was ominously quiet from the children...
I booked a table in a quiet restaurant so we could take the people who had been our friends and had proven their worth over the years in so many ways...from Joy who used to do the ironing for me to Audrey, who was an elderly lady very much involved in fund raising for us...there were twenty of us all told. We reminisced about some of the people we'd cared for...A. who used to fly into a temper and throw all her clothes and bedding out of her window...J. who put her head through the glass in the front door so often, the glazier put wooden bars up...
Audrey said not to forget Charlie...he was my daughters boyfriend for a while...an intense young man who died his hair bright blue and fell hopelessly in love with the vicars wife...they decided that they'd wing-walk together on a light aircraft to raise money for us...Pat...the vicars wife...had cerebral palsy...she laughed and blushed bright pink at the memory of dear Charlie...
I thought we were quite mad to leave these people behind.
We couldn't have looked after those children...we couldn't have cared for the adults with their diverse and many problems without the huge amount of support we had from others...whether they were wing-walking or baking cakes for a raffle...some of the professionals were excellent too. Harry in particular...he was in overall charge of all the small homes in the area and often trod a very thin line with his superiors in getting what our residents needed and deserved.
There was just G and K left...the baby had been handed over to her new parents and T. was happily ensconced with John, Norma and Ron...tiny fragile M. had moved in with her new people...
Andy had a bath ready for us and a flush loo...
It was the middle of August and we had two weeks to go.
Childhood Games...
Messages of Hope? - Pneumonia ICU
Advise /any help greatly appreciated 
