This week we said goodbye to our little foster buddy. The powers-that-be decided it would be in his best interest to be closer to his family and to attend school with his brothers. His brothers live and attend school over an hour away from where we live so although we were willing to try to make it work, it seemed best for all that he move in with his older brother.

His younger brother was in our care for the first two months and they fought constantly and little brother had a very difficult time. So when the idea of him moving in with a brother came up, they organized a weekend sleepover to test the waters. Everyone got along great and for the next three weeks our little friend talked constantly, with joy about what he and his brother did, games they played, movies they watched, etc. I heard little of his potential new foster parents but I hoped that was neither here nor there.

We broke the ‘exciting news’ at the dinner table that he was going to get to move in with his brother so that they could go to school together and he would be closer to the rest of his family. The kids were all ecstatic, for different reasons of course. My daughter almost broke down in tears of relief, and our son seemed pleased he would get his room, toys and privacy back.

He did very well, he said good bye, gave me a hug quickly and left with his new foster family and his oldest brother. It was so brief, so easy, and very anticlimactic. I’m not sure what I was expecting.

My kiddos are cheerful. They are still playing together, more so than they had before we had fosters. This experience has no doubt brought them closer. The house is a little quieter. I think the challenging part is not his absence – we knew this would be the case sooner or later – but the fact we are no longer in the loop. He became such an important little person in our lives, a puzzle piece that we adjusted our lives to fit in. His absence has not left a hole, our family has knitted right back to how it was, but I am saddened some by the fact that I will no longer know how he is doing, how the court dates go, how he’s doing in school, etc. It’s an interesting feeling, being so concerned about a child, then to hand him over to someone else along with all the responsibilities and concerns.

Since our lives are about to get a bit more chaotic with starting a new school and career, we will be taking a small hiatis from fostering, but we are definitely going to open our hearts and homes to more little friends in the future.