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TALES OF ADOPTION Part Five 1970’s-1990's This fairy tale is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Need a quick refresher? Here was her story.

Mary Mary’s garden only grew two adopted flowers, a Bluebell and Buttercup, so though she was thankful for her beautiful buds, thwarted was her desire to be the old woman in a shoe. Mary needed a new plan! Before and during the birth of her first flower, Mary fostered a five-year-old girl. The road to fostering opened. Fostering newborn infants until they went into an adoptive home sounded like a good idea. Usually they arrived at two days and left by six weeks, just when they were eating and sleeping well. Curbing the infant urge, but really wanting more long-term babies, Mary switched to running a day care in her home. Along with this came a glistening emerging bud, a Forget-Me-Not, that was severely handicapped, physically, mentally and medically. Forget-Me-Not brought such joy with him, and the need for more education to attend to his various medical needs. Mary, Mary's previous training at nursing school did not teach what truly goes on in these babies’ lives when they go home to their families. In time, foster care became part of Forget-Me-Not’s life with Mary’s garden.

Nancy Lynch says, "Joy is being a wife, Mom of fourteen, eight with varying disabilities and living at home, Grandma of thirteen, and Great Grandma of three. Serenity is listening and watching the ocean, alone, at our home on Maui. Passion is friends, photography, reading, swimming and children." Nancy can be reached at nalynch@aol.com.

Four years passed with a busy garden of small flowers, my own, daycare daisies, and buds in foster care, especially my special Forget-Me-Not. Mr. Right II, a widower, had entered my life and a hard decision meant picking up roots and moving to the cold tundra. How would my flowers grow? My special Forget-Me-Not was unable to transplant, as he needed southern warmth. How I hated to leave him. (Forget-Me-Not wilted and struggled for his life, but did end up flourishing in a garden with his birth family. Luckily, we have been able to watch him bloom through out the years.)

Mr. Right II had his own flower garden, a Cattail, Bachelor Button, Larkspur, and Sweet Pea. How I loved these flowers and I did want my buds to grow along side of them. Moving to the cold tundra meant many changes for all, so there were wilts, rots, struggles, and finally beautiful blooms.

After a year, the baby urge returned. Mary felt more flowers would add interest. Making the call to become a foster parent, Minnesota felt Mary, Mary had too many flowers she didn’t know what to do. Thwarted again!

Shortly after the Minnesota call a Doctor phoned Mary, Mary about taking an injured baby flower, a Jasmine. Readily she said yes. A year later, an injured Snapdragon arrived. Time brought more injured and wilting flowers, a Lady Slipper, a Daffodil, Marigold, Iris, Hyacinth, and a sweet William. Throughout these years, other buds came, gathered strength and left to resume life in their old gardens.

At long last Mary, Mary had become The Old Women In a Shoe, she was content with life, and lived happily ever after.

*The old Woman is your author, again, only older.