WINFIELD, W.Va. (WSAZ) — There are thousands of children in foster care waiting, hoping for a loving, forever family.
While many of those children are perfectly normal, there are quite a few with physical and mental handicaps that often fall at the bottom of the list. But one local family wants to adopt, and they only want a child with special needs. Their reasoning dates back nearly 20 years.
“Kids like that are special,” said Carie Jarvis, who wants to adopt. “They’re not wanted. No one wants those kinds of kids. And that’s just what I’m drawn to.”
Carie wants to adopt a baby. The 38-year-old already has three teenagers of her own. Danni is 16, and twins Cody and Allen are 14. But the family doesn’t want just any baby; they want a special needs baby.
“They love you,” Carie said. “It’s not about, ‘Mommy, you’re embarrassing me’ because kids get to a certain age where they act that way. But these don’t do that; they just love you.”
Cody agreed, saying,“There’s no one that would love you more than a child with special needs.”
Cody has a few special needs of his own. He’s has Asperger’s syndrome — a high-functioning form of autism. He knows the importance of needing and receiving that little extra care.
“I do need help a lot,” he said. “I need help with handwriting. Kids don’t like me too much, so it would be nice to have someone that loves me.”
But this family’s desire to adopt a special needs baby didn’t pop out of thin air. It’s a longtime desire rooted in Carie’s childhood. When she was 12, her parents adopted a special needs baby. Michael was just 15-months old.
“He had water on the brain, CP, seizures, he was blind, he was a tube feeder,” lists Carie.
When Michael was 6 and Carie was 17, she became his medical power of attorney.
“Dad had an accident in ‘87 that about killed him and Mom was busy taking care of him,” Carie said. “Michael got real sick and was always in the hospital. I would always stay with him. I was 17, and I kept a suitcase packed. When he went to the hospital, I went to the hospital. He never cried. If he cried, you knew something was majorly wrong.”
Two years later, things did go wrong. Carie had to make the most difficult decision in her life — a decision not to resuscitate her little brother.
“Oh my God, it was horrible,” she said. “My best friend’s little boy died six hours before, and she was a basket case and she was like, ‘Carie, take care of Michael one of these days. It’s going to be you.’ And six hours later, it was me.”
For Carie, it was a loss she never fully got over.
“Michael was everything to me,” she said. “Michael was my world. He’s all I had. I didn’t date. I took care of Michael; I didn’t leave him.”
Michael’s story is a part of this family — not a sad story, but one full of love and happiness and hope.
“I think the way some people think about these babies ain’t right,” Cody said. “These are humans, too, and they also deserve attention. They don’t deserve to be treated like outcasts. They are special and need to be treated nicely.”
Carie already has started the adoption process — one that could wrap up more quickly than usual with her unusual request.
“They’re like, ‘Are you sure that’s what you want? That’s the first time we’ve had that request.’ So, I guess I’ll get my pick of the litter,” Carie said.
She and her family have agreed to allow us to follow them through their adoption process. She’s already met with the West Virginia Children’s Home Society about her desire. The next step is to return the application, take some classes and set up a home study. It’s a process that could take three to six months. We’ll check back in on them in a month or so to see how it’s going.
While many of those children are perfectly normal, there are quite a few with physical and mental handicaps that often fall at the bottom of the list. But one local family wants to adopt, and they only want a child with special needs. Their reasoning dates back nearly 20 years.
“Kids like that are special,” said Carie Jarvis, who wants to adopt. “They’re not wanted. No one wants those kinds of kids. And that’s just what I’m drawn to.”
Carie wants to adopt a baby. The 38-year-old already has three teenagers of her own. Danni is 16, and twins Cody and Allen are 14. But the family doesn’t want just any baby; they want a special needs baby.
“They love you,” Carie said. “It’s not about, ‘Mommy, you’re embarrassing me’ because kids get to a certain age where they act that way. But these don’t do that; they just love you.”
Cody agreed, saying,“There’s no one that would love you more than a child with special needs.”
Cody has a few special needs of his own. He’s has Asperger’s syndrome — a high-functioning form of autism. He knows the importance of needing and receiving that little extra care.
“I do need help a lot,” he said. “I need help with handwriting. Kids don’t like me too much, so it would be nice to have someone that loves me.”
But this family’s desire to adopt a special needs baby didn’t pop out of thin air. It’s a longtime desire rooted in Carie’s childhood. When she was 12, her parents adopted a special needs baby. Michael was just 15-months old.
“He had water on the brain, CP, seizures, he was blind, he was a tube feeder,” lists Carie.
When Michael was 6 and Carie was 17, she became his medical power of attorney.
“Dad had an accident in ‘87 that about killed him and Mom was busy taking care of him,” Carie said. “Michael got real sick and was always in the hospital. I would always stay with him. I was 17, and I kept a suitcase packed. When he went to the hospital, I went to the hospital. He never cried. If he cried, you knew something was majorly wrong.”
Two years later, things did go wrong. Carie had to make the most difficult decision in her life — a decision not to resuscitate her little brother.
“Oh my God, it was horrible,” she said. “My best friend’s little boy died six hours before, and she was a basket case and she was like, ‘Carie, take care of Michael one of these days. It’s going to be you.’ And six hours later, it was me.”
For Carie, it was a loss she never fully got over.
“Michael was everything to me,” she said. “Michael was my world. He’s all I had. I didn’t date. I took care of Michael; I didn’t leave him.”
Michael’s story is a part of this family — not a sad story, but one full of love and happiness and hope.
“I think the way some people think about these babies ain’t right,” Cody said. “These are humans, too, and they also deserve attention. They don’t deserve to be treated like outcasts. They are special and need to be treated nicely.”
Carie already has started the adoption process — one that could wrap up more quickly than usual with her unusual request.
“They’re like, ‘Are you sure that’s what you want? That’s the first time we’ve had that request.’ So, I guess I’ll get my pick of the litter,” Carie said.
She and her family have agreed to allow us to follow them through their adoption process. She’s already met with the West Virginia Children’s Home Society about her desire. The next step is to return the application, take some classes and set up a home study. It’s a process that could take three to six months. We’ll check back in on them in a month or so to see how it’s going.
Source: http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/46010777.html
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Poor little guy. The original owner/breeder that sold him to the gentleman (that lost his home) went to visit him. What she found him and the other animals in were deplorable conditions. They were surviving on their own feces and were very ill. One of the pups had a bad staph infection. She took them home, got the cleaned up, fed and took them for medical attention. Bentley is a full blooded Minature Schnauzer who has all his shots and is healthy now! She was very excited when we responded to her ad about them. She herself is a trucker and has 4 pups that go with her in her semi and she could not keep Bentley and his brother Ludwig. So he is now a part of our family. We got him for Kristofer because he was having such a hard time letting go of the puppies. Ok some will say, why not keep one of the puppies . . . the truth is we can't handle two large dogs. Thankfully Izzy and Bentley get along great! Bentley is perfect for our family!
A Friend Like U (Friend Like U Album Version) by Geoff Moore & The Distance
On Monday afternoon we headed to Wal-Mart...the one store that had power, naturally! But we headed to town for supplies; ice, batteries, food that didn't need to be refrigerated (we lost approx. $200 worth of food due to the extended power outage) and FISHING poles. The damage we saw to so many homes and businesses is just saddening. It truly looks like a hurricane went through here. Yes I know what it looks like when one goes through, I have witnessed too many of them when we lived in Florida! I will post a few pictures at the end of this post of the damaged trees. I never had my camera when we were going through the neighborhoods...kept forgetting it. 
Sara was so excited she put her own worms on the hooks. That day was so great! I was able to get some much needed sun for these white legs! I am ashamed to call myself a born and raised Floridian with how white I am right now. While there Jaron was looking through some weeds along the shore line and found what we thought was a nut...nope not a nut! A baby musk turtle. He is so small, never seen a turtle that small before, and so cute! He is no bigger than a quarter.
Anyhow, we headed home for dinner and then took Sean back with us and by the first night they all caught a fish except for Kristofer. Then on Tuesday we headed out again, all but Kris caught a fish. Poor guy, he so desperately wanted to catch a fish, he didn't even tell me he wasn't feeling well. It wasn't till after their baths (thankfully we had hot water) that I realized that something was not right with him. He never complains when it comes to not feeling well unless he is in severe pain. Took his temp and was surprised that it said 102.8 I about flipped. So we headed to the doc on Wed morning. Poor little guy has double ear infections and strep. So now he has meds. on board and hopefully he will start feeling better. 
Since they did not have school today we headed out to go fishing (which we release all fish). Naturally when Kris is sick he wants to be with me and Sean had to get his sleep, he is working the over night shifts and he has to sleep, so despite my plea for him to stay with daddy he came with us. Guess who caught a fish! KRISTOFER! He caught the first one with his hands and was freaking out. He was pacing back and forth and was so excited! Then he got smart and would sit on the side of the boat ramp and was so patient when he was trying to catch the fish. Then....BAM! He caught another fish. I have never seen him react like that in my life. He was SO FUNNY! Being gentle and talking to it, explaining that he would let it live and he released him. 
