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Post by Joelle on Nov 15, 2019 17:10:25 GMT -8
"That'd be great. I guess I'll see you next week then." He grins. "Here's my number, too."
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 15, 2019 17:29:18 GMT -8
"Perfect. It was lovely chatting with you, Kai. I'm excited to see where this project goes!"
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Post by Joelle on Nov 15, 2019 18:26:09 GMT -8
"Me too," he admits with a grin as he prepares to leave. "I won't keep you much longer, but it was nice to meet you as well."
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 15, 2019 19:58:23 GMT -8
"Definitely be thinking about exactly what you want to say to the kids. How they can help. What questions you'd want to ask them. Almost as if you were writing up a pitch for investors but instead of investors you're pitching it to the target audience."
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Post by Joelle on Nov 16, 2019 8:02:24 GMT -8
He laughs at himself. "Oh yeah, can't believe I forgot about that part. Excitement can be so consuming."
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 16, 2019 9:20:10 GMT -8
"Oh, trust me, I know. When you work with kids, you see a lot of that," Lucy laughs. "But, hey, you've got time. It'll definitely help you figure iut how to approach others for assistance once you have a more solid plan in place."
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Post by Joelle on Nov 16, 2019 12:01:38 GMT -8
"That's true. You know the kids better than I do, though. What kinds of things do you think they'd say would be nice in a place like this?"
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 16, 2019 14:12:01 GMT -8
"Well, obviously the basics: food, water, heating, cooling, the like. But other than that, definitely a tv room. And lots of plugins si everyone can jeep their device charged. You know how kids are with their electronics these days. So make sure theres internet access that'll run decently even with a large number of people using it. And maybe offer phones and laptops for kids to use when they don't have access to their own. A lot of the kids don't."
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Post by Joelle on Nov 19, 2019 17:57:56 GMT -8
He nods in agreement. )"That's true, and that's kind of ridiculous considering they're becoming more necessary, or so it seems. I even know kids who have to take laptops to school." Kai shakes his head. "I'll have to think about buying things like extra batteries and whatnot for them too, just so I'm not buying a new laptop every time the battery runs out. Not only is that annoying, but it could get expensive!"
(OOC: I have two extra batteries and they've saved my butt more than once.)
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 19, 2019 22:38:44 GMT -8
"There you go. You learn to be a bit of a penny pincher when you're working with these kids because you don't often get all the funding you really need. Alan and I have spent a lot out of our own pockets for these kids, but honestly we'd rather do that than watch them suffer," Lucy says with a smile.
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Post by Joelle on Nov 21, 2019 17:35:08 GMT -8
"Ahhh yeah. My parents have been there too. Most often for Celine and Carmen- the two sisters with medical issues, which is its own beast. But honestly? When I think of how things would have turned out with most other families in those cases, I'm glad they're in mine."
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 21, 2019 17:58:47 GMT -8
"I'd rather go broke knowing these kids are taken care of than refuse to help knowing they could be in some kind of danger," Lucy replies. "It breaks me heart, the condition some of these kids come to us in."
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Post by Joelle on Nov 21, 2019 18:03:09 GMT -8
Kai nods. "Totally. And I'd do the same. Sometimes... now that my wife's gone...I wish all those years ago that when I realized I may not see my other three kids again, I would have adopted a few. Not that I think I was in any position to have done so, but still."
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 21, 2019 18:06:10 GMT -8
"You've still got time to do that if you want," Lucy chuckles. "No timeline for how things like that work out."
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Post by Joelle on Nov 23, 2019 15:15:46 GMT -8
"That's true. And the girl I'm seeing is also adopted.So I know she'd probably be all for it."
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 24, 2019 9:09:59 GMT -8
"Well, there ya go!" Lucy laughs. "If it's meant to happen, it'll happen. You'll probably meet a lot of kids who come through the hotel that you'll want to adopt. Not all of them will be available to do so. And not all of them will necessarily want it, especially the older kids, those closer to eighteen. But there will probably be a couple that you'd be able to if you wanted."
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Post by Joelle on Nov 24, 2019 10:35:43 GMT -8
"Actually, I read somewhere that you can legally adopt adults, speaking of that. So let's suppose one of your older... charges wants to go to college. Then you could adopt them- if they wanted- to have help with financial costs and to be able to legally say that they live at your address. Some kids fake that part- the address- if they're desperate enough, because they don't have one themselves. But all it would take is a lawyer or judge to change the paperwork and stuff and the consent of the adult being adopted." He chuckles. "Can you tell I've read up on that?" he asks rhetorically.
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 24, 2019 10:53:26 GMT -8
"Wow. That's interesting. I feel like that information should be more publicized, especially among those of us who work with these kids."
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Post by Joelle on Nov 25, 2019 15:37:02 GMT -8
"It definitely should be. I found it on a medical and baby info website of all places. I guess people don't expect to find things like that on those sites."
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 25, 2019 23:11:39 GMT -8
"A medical and baby info site had that information when other locations more connected to the subject don't? That's just wild to me."
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Post by Joelle on Nov 28, 2019 22:04:58 GMT -8
"Sure is! I wonder what lawyers are thinking. Probably that adoptions are a last resort, which is really sad. Like, I get the appeal of having your own blood running through your child's veins, but nobody should love the adopted ones less, right? I mean, I know my parents worked really hard to make sure we knew we weren't afterthoughts, even after the way my mom being born without any eggs shook my parents' faith in God. Until very recently, they claimed atheism."
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 29, 2019 8:35:40 GMT -8
"There are so many families out there who can't have their own kids for one reason or another. And the kids in the system deserve a good home just as much as the kids in your average family. It's sad that we don't take good care of these kiddos. There's a reason that Alan and I have dedicated our lives to these kids."
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Post by Joelle on Nov 29, 2019 10:30:58 GMT -8
"Yeah..." He gulps. There isn't much to say there. "I was eight and my sister Carmen was five when she came to live with us- she was the first adoption since my parents had adopted me, and I'm their first. So, like...to watch that...to watch what she went through with her cancer, to know that her bio parents had just come to the States for treatment and left her because they had six other kids to feed in Mexico...even as a little kid, to know that was horrifying. I mean, I was left, but I was a baby and don't remember. I've been with my parents most of my life."
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 29, 2019 11:40:02 GMT -8
"Wow. That sucks. I've heard a lot of stories like those and they don't get any easier to hear," Lucy sighs.
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Post by Joelle on Nov 29, 2019 11:46:45 GMT -8
"Admittedly, even Carmen and her bio sister who's moved here, Esmeralda Gutierrez, think it was an act of mercy. They understand that she'd have been kept if she had gotten better quickly- she was eight when the cancer went into remission, It still doesn't make it suck any less. I'm so sorry that a lot of people suck. But the ones who are desperate...I kinda get that."
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 29, 2019 11:56:00 GMT -8
"I do too, I just wish there was a way to release the pressure on those living in desperation without them feeling like they need to give up their kids," Lucy sighs. "I've had a lot of kids pass through who hate their parents because they really are horrible, but we've also had a lot, especially younger kids, who love and miss their parents with all their being. It's so sad to watch. I feel helpless."
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Post by Joelle on Nov 29, 2019 19:13:43 GMT -8
Kai nods. "That's kinda why I moved back in with my parents after my first wife died. Christian was only three. And I don't think I could have raised him without some sort of female influence- but my mom and my sisters are great. Still, it can be tough not giving your kid what you feel they need. With the financial stuff to deal with too, things were pretty rough for awhile. And think of those who don't have that support system."
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 29, 2019 21:18:28 GMT -8
"Honestly, I feel blessed that Alan and I have been able to help as many kids as we have. We didn't used to be in such a financially healthy place and it was even harder then to watch as these kids in need of help came in and out of our lives without us having anything we could offer them. Things are a lot better now. We couldn't have done any of it without the support and help of Alan's brother. He's helped us through a lot woth these kids. Even just with our own. It's been a pleasure to watch our kids grow up. Most of them have taken after us. Our oldest, Stephen, has adopted several kids himself. He and his fiancee are in the process of finalizing the adoption of quadruplets whose mother died giving birth. June is good for Stephen. She understands the hardships that go along with the system as she herself came from the system."
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Post by Joelle on Nov 30, 2019 9:59:00 GMT -8
"Quads! Wow, that's really cool. Carmen has triplets, though hers were conceived using a surrogate due to the cancer. They're eight now. June and Stephen are in for quite a ride there- Matteo, Stefano, and Acacia never stop going!"
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Post by starletinwaiting on Nov 30, 2019 10:59:45 GMT -8
"Oh, they have been reading up and doing all the research they can," Lucy laughs. "And the quads are on top of the kids they already have. June was pregnant when they met and at that point Stephen had already adopted his daughter Tatum and was in the process of adopting his twins, Allegra and Felix. They've got quite the handful with their family already."
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