This will be a year of many changes. Some I will decide on as I get into the new year. Some will be happening whether I want them to or not. My daughter and grandchildren will be moving away from me the day after New Years. They will only be one hour away. However, it is not the same as having them just down the street. It is best for everyone involved. It just hurts knowing I now have no grandchildren real close. I do have one about thirty minutes away. We only get to see her when my son comes down from Georgia and picks her up and brings her to my house. Divorce does things like that to grandparents and grandchildren. Haylee and Jacob will be moving with their mother an hour away since my daughter was transferred. We both need to break from each other for many reasons. I think, (I hope), it will make my visits with my grandchildren more special. I fear the youngest of only three will forget me if he doesn't get to see me as often. That is just my own fear. I will miss my time writing with my granddaughter.
Another change this year is my commitment to losing weight. I don't know how quickly I'll be able to take it off. I am facing another surgery in the new year which will hamper some of the weight loss. I need to get more exercise and so I am making a commitment to get more in 2014. That is one of the reasons for scheduling reviews in advance. I don't want any excuses for not exercising. Now, to my very first review of the new year.
Pages: 304
Genre: Memoir
Source: I won a copy from LibraryThing
Disclosure: The opinions expressed here are my own. I have been compensated in no way for my honest opinion.
From Goodreads:
Eight-year-old Aimee was on the child protection register at birth. Her five older siblings were taken into care many years ago. So no one can understand why she was left at home to suffer for so long. It seems Aimee was forgotten.
The social services are looking for a very experienced foster carer to look after Aimee and, when she reads the referral, Cathy understands why. Despite her reservations, Cathy agrees to Aimee on – there is something about her that reminds Cathy of Jodie (the subject of ‘Damaged’ and the most disturbed child Cathy has cared for), and reading the report instantly tugs at her heart strings.
When she arrives, Aimee is angry. And she has every right to be. She has spent the first eight years of her life living with her drug-dependent mother in a flat that the social worker described as ‘not fit for human habitation’. Aimee is so grateful as she snuggles into her bed at Cathy’s house on the first night that it brings Cathy to tears.
Aimee’s aggressive mother is constantly causing trouble at contact, and makes sweeping allegations against Cathy and her family in front of her daughter as well. It is a trying time for Cathy, and it makes it difficult for Aimee to settle. But as Aimee begins to trust Cathy, she starts to open up. And the more Cathy learns about Aimee’s life before she came into care, the more horrified she becomes.
It’s clear that Aimee should have been rescued much sooner and as her journey seems to be coming to a happy end, Cathy can’t help but reflect on all the other ‘forgotten children’ that are still suffering…
My Thoughts
This is not a story for the faint of heart. It is the story of a foster parent who takes in a child that most would never touch. Aimee is eight years old and unlike her five older siblings, she was left with her mother instead of being removed. Eight years she suffers abuse at the hands of her mother and many others. No child should have to experience the things Aimee experiences. The book was frustrating at times because at one point in my life I worked for children and family services in my state. The things that you learn about happening to children is horrible. Cathy has done a wonderful job of letting the reader be an observer yet feel like they are right there. I have never been a foster parent. I have seen so much through my job as a teacher. Sometimes the things we learn from our students are just as heart wrenching and makes us wonder how someone could let something happen to a child for so long and do nothing. I have great admiration for people like Cathy. As a matter of fact a friend of mine, an author by the name of Karen Arnpriester is one of those angels who takes in kids. I have the highest respect for people like them. I believe that books like this should be read to bring attention to, and open the eyes of people who might not want to see what is going on around them. I highly recommend this book.
