My Special Friend
The school bus came down the road and I stood at the front door waiting to see what the new girl looked like. I had been told she had braces on her legs and that I was not to make fun of her.
I watched as the bus stopped and the kids piled out. At the end came a little girl. She had blonde hair and thick glasses. She had difficulty getting off the bus. No one helped her. Her knees didn't seem to bend. She wore a wool skirt that seemed to be bothering her as she struggled to get off the bus. She finally made it down, and fell, landing on her bookbag. Two older kids laughed at her.
Her name was DiDi and she was going to be living with some friends of my parents. She was a foster child. I had never heard of a foster child so this was totally a new idea for me.
I had heard lots of whispering about DiDi but this was the first time I was going to see her. She was the youngest of 12 children and her own mother had put her in fostercare because she was too much work.
As I stood watching DiDi pick herself up in the driveway and limp toward the house I felt very sad. I did not know why I felt sad, but I knew that seeing DiDi made me sad.
My mother's friend Anna, paid no attention to the trouble DiDi had getting off the bus, and coming up the steps and into the front door. No one seemed to notice she was home. Except me. I went to the porch and helped her with her bag. She smiled at me, the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. Her smile lit up her whole face. She seemed so happy to see me. I immediately felt comfortable with DiDi and from that moment on she and I had a very good friendship.
Anna was a terrible foster parent for a special needs child. She didn't help DiDi in anyway with her personal needs. Often Didi was left sitting in cold water in a bathtub for hours before being able to get out. DiDi was beaten, ridiculed and embarrassed for her disability. She was unable to hold her bowel movements and her urine. Anna treated DiDi like she did this on purpose. She received cruel punishments for not being able to use the toilet correctly.
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