Margaret was 18 on her last birthday (I know Edward said 17, but he's wrong) which means, as Foster Parents, we do not have to take care of or be a home for her. At this time, the child or should I say adult may go to college or get a job. Also the state helps them find a place to live.
Well David and I had been out and when we got home Margaret was all upset and in tears. She couldn't tell us what was wrong. I asked Susan who said she took the phone away from Margaret when she was crying so hard. The lady told her, it was private, but Susan did know she was one of the state ladies.
Finally, we got Margaret calmed down enough to tell us what the lady said. Then Margaret said where was she going to live. Would she still be able to teach at the school. Susan said what saved Margaret from getting more upset, if that was possible, was that Martha called. Martha stopped by the house to make sure everything was all right and spoke with Margaret privately.
When I called Martha, she told me what the state lady said. Martha told Margaret not to worry, she did not have to move out of our house and wait until we got home before she did anything. Also, she was sure that she would be able to keep her teaching job.
So, I called the state lady. She told me what she told Margaret. Then, I got upset. See should not have told Margaret that when we were not home. In fact, she should have talked with us first. We have never turned any of our Foster Children out in the street when they were 18. When they come into our home - this is their home. They don't have to leave when they were 18. In fact, we have adopted them.
David and I got Margaret alone. Told Susan to watch the little ones. We told Margaret that our Foster Home may be different than others. When you cross our door, you are family. We don't send anyone out when they are 18. Then we asked her if she wanted to stay here. She said yes, of course. We told her then this is her home. We love her and didn't want her to leave. She is one of our daughters.
To make sure everything was all right, we had her call the Bishop of the school she teaches at and explain what the state had said and what we had said. He told her that as long as she was staying with us, she had her position. If we had decided she had to leave, he would have found another place to stay, but he is glad she will be here.
David did explain what we set up now that she is 18. He takes a percentage of her pay. Margaret and he will go down to the bank and open an account. The money goes into her account. It stays in the account. When she decides to marry which Margaret says she won't. Then David said, maybe she will want to buy her own house - she will be able to make a down payment or maybe even be able to pay cash. She agreed to do that.
What was funny was when David and Margaret were going to bank, Margaret came with a coffee container. Inside of it was money. Margaret doesn't spend much of her money so she has been saving it.
For the summer she has a job at Anna's Sister and Husband's store. Susan started out with a job for gardening at one house, but now she has several customers. She sometimes takes David Jr. and Katie with her to work.
Be With God,
Jean
P.S.
I think Margaret's wrong age is part of my fault. When Jean first told me when Margaret came, I wrote the wrong age. I apologize for my mistake.
