Mother of Many - by Michelle R Kidwell

I am a Mother, the kids I have are girls from all over the world, each with their own story to tell, each with their own scars, I will soon be adopting my twelfth daughter, a little girl from India, maimed in a bombing not to long ago. Most of my girls are disfigured or handicap in someway, deemed as the undesirables, but that is because no one takes the time to truly look into the souls of these beautiful girls, they only see what is on the outside, scars from burns, missing limbs, spastic arms and legs, paralyzed limbs, they don’t take the time to see the smiles, listen to the laughter, and hear these girls prayers.

I have been told I am crazy to adopt twelve girls from all over the world, that I should not do that, that doing so does not make me some kind of hero, just some kind of nut, but I am neither a hero or a nut, I am a Mother, of many girls from every corner of the world, from every background imaginable, but now we are all a family.

I have not properly introduced myself, I am Kendra, I’ll be thirty this month, and already the Mother to twelve children, wow! I can hardly believe it myself, but I am glad to be doing what I am doing, and these children are my joy, they are the main reason for me wanting to get up in the morning, and the reason that I can go to bed most nights with a smile on my face, I love these kids, as much as I could love any kids, they are my girls.

Keisha the youngest is two, and has Down Syndrome, she’s a beautiful little girl though, with blonde hair, and blue eyes that seem to dance, but she can not speak, nor can she feed herself, next is Windy who is four, and came from India as well, she was burned in a horrible fire when she was only a few months old, she has had many surgeries, but is still in a great deal of pain, and Mia who is seven, she came from Africa, and lost both legs when she stepped on a mine, but she gets around on her own, and is not one to let this get her down, Mariah is nine, and Autistic she came from California, and was taken away from abusive parents, Sally and Sarah are ten, they are twins and both have severe cases of Cerebral Palsy, but they are making progress, both are beginning to speak which is something that was said that they would never do, Kelly and Kim are both eleven, they are not twins, but they come from similar back grounds, and both have Spina Bifida, Kelly can walk with the Aid of crutches though and Kim depends on a wheelchair to get around, Francie is twelve and has mild mental retardation, she is mainstreamed into a regular classroom setting and is doing well. Mary is thirteen and has emotional problems, as well as suffering from the damages of Shaken baby syndrome, her brain was shaken so much it caused brain damage, and the doctors said it was amazing that she lived through it, Linda is fourteen and has a mild case of Down Syndrome, she does well in mainstreamed classes and is in Junior high, and soon I am to add the twelfth child to our family, and probably many more after that, because as long as a child needs a mother I want to give them that.