Family

After their parents died in a car accident, a couple adopts seven siblings in foster care

Pam Willis was led to the item on Facebook about the seven siblings in need of a permanent home as if it were fate.

Pam couldn’t stop staring at the seven siblings’ expressions when she saw the tale on Facebook in 2019. She realized right away that she needed to be their mother.

Credit: second.chance.7

The children, who ranged in age from one to twelve, had been in foster care for almost a year after their parents died in a vehicle accident.

Pam shared the item with her 53-year-old husband, Gary Willis. Given the fact that they were about to retire, she assumed Gary would tell her she was crazy. The couple had five adult children and had been fostering children for years, but they had never discussed adoption.

Gary, much to her surprise, shared her feelings. Pam explained, “It was what God wanted us to do.”

Credit: Oregon Right to Life

They don’t spend any time, dialing the number mentioned at the bottom of the report. They were told that they had already received thousands of calls from people who wanted to foster the children. Pam and Gary were matched for Adelino, 15, Ruby, 13, Aleecia, 9, Anthony, 8, Aubriella, 7, Leo, 5, and Xander, four months later.

Pam learned about the seven children’s lives during the screening process. Their parents battled addiction, and the family is without a fixed residence.

It was simple to connect with the children.They were really longing for stability,” Pam explained. “The older two were more difficult.”

Pam recognizes that the children have difficulty trusting others as a result of their trauma. They had hoped that they would leave. Ruby, the second oldest child, didn’t know how to be a kid because she had to be a mother figure for her younger siblings from a young age.

The first six months were the most difficult for the children, since they had difficulty sleeping and frequently experienced unpleasant dreams.

Pam remembered, “One night, my then-7-year-old came into our room.” “‘Did you have a nasty dream?‘ I inquired. ‘No, I just wanted to make sure you were still here,‘ she said.

Pam and Gary adopted all of the children in August to show that they aren’t going anyway. Pam and Garry’s biological children, Matthew, 32, Andrew, 30, Alexa, 27, Sophia, 23, and Sam, 20, were practically present at the wedding.

They set up a large television in the park so that everyone could watch the ceremony while remaining safe from Covid. Everyone is overjoyed that the youngsters are now a part of the Willis family.

They’ve given us a second chance at parenting, and we’ve given them a second Mom and Dad,” Pam continued. The narrator says, “They’re our Second Chance 7.”

Brenda A. Maples
Brenda A. Maples