Four Waifs on Our Doorstep (37 page)

He looked at me for several seconds, then broke into a smile. ‘Yeah.’

‘Even the bad bits?’

‘Yeah. Even the bits that were worse than the bad bits,’ he laughed.

Laughter is what’s kept us going through it all. Laughter . . . and love.

EPILOGUE

A
lot of people who hardly knew me, and a few who did, were only too keen to judge me in the bad times. Each of our children, when they ran away,
did so not because of anything we did, but to avoid the consequences of what they did. They are all now back in our lives, not because we got it wrong, but because we got it right. They are in our
lives because they
want
to be . . . and they’re really lovely people. I’m proud of them all. I really am. We both are.

JAMIE is twenty-four and has his own flat, which he’s just decorated, and it’s looking absolutely the bee’s knees. He split up with five-year-old
Jordan’s mother and is now in a new relationship. His girlfriend has her own baby girl and they are now expecting their first baby together. Jamie works long hours in a well-known pub, honing
his cooking skills and taking a break from his college catering course. He loves Jordan to bits and sees him whenever he can. Jamie has long wanted to have his own car and to learn to drive, so he
recently bought a second-hand car with some of his compensation money and is hoping to take his driving test soon. Jamie still suffers a lot from anxiety, and was able to have a course of cognitive
behavioural therapy on the NHS. He is also paying out of his compensation for some additional counselling and is optimistic about his future with his own family.

STACEY is twenty-three and also has her own flat, which she decorated herself. She is in a steady relationship with a boyfriend she went out with quite seriously a few years
ago and they are now back together. She loves him, she always has, and he’s very good for her, so fingers crossed, but I won’t buy a hat just yet! Stacey is currently volunteering as a
play-ranger in a children’s holiday scheme, working double shifts, prior to starting her degree at university, hoping to achieve her long-held ambition to become a social worker. She
certainly has enough experience of social work, from the other side, and wants to be the kind of social worker she never had, the kind who cares, and the kind who looks out first and foremost for
the children’s best interests, rather than the adults’.

CARRIE is twenty-two this year and still lives at home with us. With her learning difficulties and special needs, she couldn’t do any full-time job, but she did voluntary
work in a play scheme for quite a while and loved that. I helped her to set up her own little cleaning business, just within the family, and Jamie was her first client. She said his flat was very
tidy and he complimented her on how well she had cleaned it. She has recently started part-time work as a washer-up in the kitchen of a little country pub near where we live. Mike or I take her
down there and collect her again at the end of her shift. She does voluntary work one day a week in a children’s nursery and they are very pleased with her. She has now got a place at college
for a three-year child-care course and has the offer of a paid job at the nursery if she passes. Carrie has been going out with the same boyfriend for two years now and they seem very happy
together.

SAM is nearly twenty and did very well at school, so he rebelled later than Jamie and Stacey, but he has had his own ‘time out’, running away and staying with
friends or in a squat, living, but not very well, on social security. Sam was the one who was awarded the least compensation money and he has now used it all up on drinking and drugs. But after a
few months he came back and since then has been living at home again. He was hoping to join the Territorial Army, and he wondered whether his autistic difficulties with emotions and social skills
would stop him getting a place. The sergeant said, ‘No, I don’t want to fall in love with you!’ Sadly he didn’t pass his test to get in and is now helping out in a play
scheme, whilst preparing to start his Forensic Science studies at technical college.

MIKE and I live with Carrie and Sam, four rescued dogs, two rescued cats and three ‘talking’ goldfish in a lovely old farmhouse, surrounded by beautiful
countryside. Over the past fifty years we have taken into our home and our hearts nearly seven hundred children, most of whom have experienced the most difficult and traumatic childhoods before
arriving on our doorstep, including many emergency placements and large sibling groups. Along the way, we adopted seven of these children and have another semi-adopted daughter. We now have seven
wonderful grandchildren and we love spending time with them all.

To my dearest husband Mike, I want to thank you for being the best father, grandfather and husband. Your endless support, patience and humour have enabled me to play all my
life.

To all my family who have been a part of this monumental journey, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank each and every one of you. Without your strength, courage
and spirit, this family would not be how it is today. You are all a patchwork of personalities, and I love you all dearly.

To Jacquie, thank you for finally making my dream come true. You have allowed what has been a very traumatic journey to be turned into a chapter of positivity and finally
closure. To me you will always be somebody very special.

To all carers and adopters, never give up.

To Lawrence, thank you for finally giving my children justice.

To Clare, thank you for believing in not only me, but my four children.

To Simon & Schuster, thank you for finally giving my children a voice.

Lastly, I would like to thank Jamie, Stacey, Carrie and Sam. While times have indeed been challenging at best, I would like to express how proud I am of the four young people
you have become. All four of you have helped me in my own personal journey in which you have filled my life with laughter, happiness, tears, frustration and most of all love.