LilMtnCbn
06-27-2004, 08:14 AM
http://www.timesstar.com/Stories/0,1413,125~1549~2238722,00.html
Forging a lifelong connection
By Monique Beeler, STAFF WRITER
TAMISHA Carleson opens her bedroom door to reveal a slice of teenage heaven.
She's covered every foot of her sky blue walls with souvenirs from her high
school career and the spaces in between feature messages scribbled in pen
directly onto the painted surface.
"It's all different things. These are all random pictures," says Tamisha, 17,
as she leads a tour around the sun-splashed room with hardwood floors. "These
are pictures from a camp I went to for school. These are in Germany. This is a
wedding that was in our back yard. This is an old boyfriend. This is at school
at lunch."
Tamisha, a former foster child who was adopted by her foster parent, just
graduated from high school and plans to take child development classes at Caada
College in the fall. She hopes to become a nurse, but in the meantime she plans
to become a licensed foster care provider so she can offer respite babysitting
services to foster parents.
"I plan on getting licensed so when someone goes out for the weekend or the
day, I can say, 'OK, I'll be right over,'" says Tamisha, who wears layered pink
and white T-shirts, low-slung khaki pants and a dainty silver cross around her
neck. "There aren't enough respite care providers out there."
There also aren't enough good foster homes, she says, for the many teenage
foster children she meets in programs such as "Fostering Art" and the
Independent Living Skills program, which helps older foster children make the
transition to living on their own.
"They want a home that's going to love them and trust them and treat them as if
they were their (child)," she says.
Tamisha virtually started life as a foster child herself. At 4 days old, she
entered the Carleson family's care. For 72 consecutive days Tamisha required
shots to counteract the drugs her birth mother exposed her to in the womb.
Diane Carleson dutifully drove Tamisha to the hospital for daily shots until
Tamisha became too terrified of the hospital. Carleson then delivered the
injections herself.
"I was really sick," says Tamisha, a vibrant teenager who smiles often and
chats comfortably with new acquaintances. "I wasn't supposed to live past a
year."
The bond Tamisha formed with Carleson as a young child clearly endures. The
Carlesons adopted Tamisha when she was 4. For many summers, the mother-daughter
team took annual trips together overseas. The duo frequently speak publicly
together at events such as seminars for people interested in adopting foster
children. And as a special tribute to her mother, Tamisha earlier in the year
presented her with a framed black-and-white photograph she took as part of
"Fostering Art," a weekly program that urges teenage foster children to tell
their stories through photography.
The image Tamisha captured on film is the perfect symbol for Carleson: a baby
bottle. Carleson displays the photograph in a place of prominence on a side
table near the front door.
Carleson calls Tamisha the light of her life and makes sure her daughter knows
it. When she enters the house after a morning filled with errands and foster
care duties, the first thing Carleson does is set down the baby carrier and
embrace Tamisha, who is fresh out of the shower.
"Hello," Tamisha greets her.
"Hello," says Carleson giving her daughter a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"I love you, even with your wet hair."
Fortunately for Tamisha, Carleson's love has been of the secure variety.
When a friend of Tamisha's, a former foster child, had the opportunity to meet
her birth family, the girl's adoptive parents balked. The adoptive parents
worried that if their daughter met her biological parents, she wouldn't want to
stay with her adoptive family.
The Carlesons posed no roadblocks when Tamisha's biological sister contacted
her 11 years ago. Her birth mother had died, but Tamisha has since met her
birth father and three siblings and learned of family members living in several
states.
"I found a positive side coming from finding out who my parents were," she
says. "There's part of me that's filled because I know they're out there."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
Forging a lifelong connection
By Monique Beeler, STAFF WRITER
TAMISHA Carleson opens her bedroom door to reveal a slice of teenage heaven.
She's covered every foot of her sky blue walls with souvenirs from her high
school career and the spaces in between feature messages scribbled in pen
directly onto the painted surface.
"It's all different things. These are all random pictures," says Tamisha, 17,
as she leads a tour around the sun-splashed room with hardwood floors. "These
are pictures from a camp I went to for school. These are in Germany. This is a
wedding that was in our back yard. This is an old boyfriend. This is at school
at lunch."
Tamisha, a former foster child who was adopted by her foster parent, just
graduated from high school and plans to take child development classes at Caada
College in the fall. She hopes to become a nurse, but in the meantime she plans
to become a licensed foster care provider so she can offer respite babysitting
services to foster parents.
"I plan on getting licensed so when someone goes out for the weekend or the
day, I can say, 'OK, I'll be right over,'" says Tamisha, who wears layered pink
and white T-shirts, low-slung khaki pants and a dainty silver cross around her
neck. "There aren't enough respite care providers out there."
There also aren't enough good foster homes, she says, for the many teenage
foster children she meets in programs such as "Fostering Art" and the
Independent Living Skills program, which helps older foster children make the
transition to living on their own.
"They want a home that's going to love them and trust them and treat them as if
they were their (child)," she says.
Tamisha virtually started life as a foster child herself. At 4 days old, she
entered the Carleson family's care. For 72 consecutive days Tamisha required
shots to counteract the drugs her birth mother exposed her to in the womb.
Diane Carleson dutifully drove Tamisha to the hospital for daily shots until
Tamisha became too terrified of the hospital. Carleson then delivered the
injections herself.
"I was really sick," says Tamisha, a vibrant teenager who smiles often and
chats comfortably with new acquaintances. "I wasn't supposed to live past a
year."
The bond Tamisha formed with Carleson as a young child clearly endures. The
Carlesons adopted Tamisha when she was 4. For many summers, the mother-daughter
team took annual trips together overseas. The duo frequently speak publicly
together at events such as seminars for people interested in adopting foster
children. And as a special tribute to her mother, Tamisha earlier in the year
presented her with a framed black-and-white photograph she took as part of
"Fostering Art," a weekly program that urges teenage foster children to tell
their stories through photography.
The image Tamisha captured on film is the perfect symbol for Carleson: a baby
bottle. Carleson displays the photograph in a place of prominence on a side
table near the front door.
Carleson calls Tamisha the light of her life and makes sure her daughter knows
it. When she enters the house after a morning filled with errands and foster
care duties, the first thing Carleson does is set down the baby carrier and
embrace Tamisha, who is fresh out of the shower.
"Hello," Tamisha greets her.
"Hello," says Carleson giving her daughter a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"I love you, even with your wet hair."
Fortunately for Tamisha, Carleson's love has been of the secure variety.
When a friend of Tamisha's, a former foster child, had the opportunity to meet
her birth family, the girl's adoptive parents balked. The adoptive parents
worried that if their daughter met her biological parents, she wouldn't want to
stay with her adoptive family.
The Carlesons posed no roadblocks when Tamisha's biological sister contacted
her 11 years ago. Her birth mother had died, but Tamisha has since met her
birth father and three siblings and learned of family members living in several
states.
"I found a positive side coming from finding out who my parents were," she
says. "There's part of me that's filled because I know they're out there."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
