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Anthony is a confident, talkative, active, “self-starter” kind of boy who loves the outdoors. He is a friendly tour guide for his foster family’s beautiful farm home in the rolling hills of Ohio. He has lived there two years. He smiles, “I like living on a farm. I’ve lived on a farm almost all my life.”
Early each summer morning he helps feed two of the family’s favorite horses, Hank and Emmy, who tag along on his farm tour. He offers to hand feed them and talks to them. He says he gets to ride them sometimes. The two family dogs stop to cool off in the farm pond, and then follow happily along with Tony.
He shows where he helped his adult foster brothers with logs after they cut down a huge tree. He looks under the logs they saved to find fishing worms.Tony recognizes little creatures in the mud under a chunk of a log. He says, “I can see Chinese fighting beetles and banana slugs. Sometimes I see salamanders and newts. If you see a newt, my (foster) brother says to leave it alone, because they are becoming extinct.” There are busy people who are at the farm often—his five grownup foster siblings, their spouses and children, three foster kids he lives with, and other extended family. On warm summer weekends they cook hot dogs over the campfire, go swimming, and have games of croquet. In cool months they sled ride on the big hill. Inside they like computer games. Anthony loved his big birthday surprise—a trip after school to KFC and then the circus!
He imagines a similar life in an adoptive home, hoping for “a nice family with a mom and a dad, not too old, and a yard. They could maybe have other kids. I’m religious, a Protestant. A Christian family would be good. It doesn’t matter about color, it matters about their heart,” he says, adding, “A family is important, because they help each other out when times are bad.”
Tony tells about school, “If I get my grades up in seventh grade next year, I maybe can go out for track and football.” A Packers fan, he throws a football around at recess with his best friend. He continues, “My best subject is English. I love school, love to read, love books. I like to write stories. We have book shelves at the top of our bunk beds.” This past year, surprisingly, Anthony says his grades were only C’s and a D. It seemed to be a homework problem, but he adds, “Next year I’ll get my grades up. I’m signing up for woodworking, home ec, gym, and maybe art.” He also likes music, playing the recorder, trumpet, or piano.
The farm yard is full of fun for Tony. He picks blackberries for pies when they’re ripe. He fishes in the farm ponds for catfish and bluegill. He appreciates the new outdoor pool above ground. He points out the fire pit “surround” that he helped his foster dad make.Tony likes woodworking, mechanics, and farm chores.He’s proud his work on the flower garden and fountain, saying, “Here’s a tomato plant that just came up in the middle of flowers—we didn’t even plant it.” He hikes to a historical graveyard on the property with markers from a pioneer family who died young of smallpox, commenting soberly, “I’d like to find cures—to stop death.”
Tony has started to think about careers, saying, “I’d like to be a masseur.” He grins, “They get paid a lot!” He’s happy in foster care, but he knows a permanent family is very important. He is ready now to put his life back together to grow up happy and safe—active but secure. He is working toward many goals for the future. Would you like to adopt Anthony to give him the understanding, love and stability that he still needs?
For more information about adopting Anthony, contact Northeast Ohio Adoption Services at 1-800-686-6627, ext. 126.
