I Adopted a Little Girl. Thirteen Years Later, One Phone Screen Brought Everything to a Stop

it out.”

The caseworker looked me over carefully. I was young. Single. Working rotating shifts.

One night became a week.

A week became months filled with home visits, parenting classes squeezed between overnight shifts, and late-night searches on how to braid hair without making a mess of it. I learned how to pack lunches. How to calm nightmares. How continue reading …