National Adoption Month: Meet Mom and Dad McCarthy
Last week we introduced you to the McCarthy family, a sizeable crew of twelve. Today, you’ll meet Mom and Dad McCarthy.
Mom April, who previously homeschooled three of her sons, recently started nursing school to better care for Addison*, the McCarthys’ soon-to-be-adopted one-year-old who suffered a brain injury at birth and has also been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. (Stay tuned for week four to read more of Addison’s inspiring story.)
“I’ve actually always wanted to be a nurse, but I’ve been raising a family,” April says. “But Addison has really motivated me. I feel it will help me parent her better.”
A true renaissance woman, April also ran a marathon in January 2016 without training.
April registered for a Disney marathon race in April 2015. Just a few weeks later, sweet baby Addison came along. With all the medical appointments and care Addison needed, April didn’t have time to train.
“She didn’t get kicked off,” April’s husband, David, proudly shared. “There were hundreds of people that got kicked off. She managed to stay in front of them.”
“I don’t know how but by the grace of God,” April admits. “All I could think about was I don’t want to come in on that bus.”
Dad David spends a lot of time in his car. To provide for his family, he makes a two-hour commute to New Mexico every day for his job in oil and gas. But there’s also a lot happening for a family of twelve, so much of his extra time is spent busing the kids around.
“We’ve become Uber since the kids started working,” David jokes.
April and David, who have been married 20 years, met through a friend after David offered to give the two of them a ride home.
“I drove them to her friend’s house, and then I realized she lived the next street over,” David reminisces. “It just worked out. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of me when she was in the car.”
Over the past five years, the couple has fostered thirteen boys and two girls. They even moved from Midland to Lubbock to live in a campus home so they could care for more kids. They’ve since moved out of the campus home, but David recently gathered a group of volunteers to repaint the house for the new residents. When the team wasn’t able to finish, David stayed to finish the job himself.
April and David still stay in touch with almost all of their former foster kids, most of whom have been adopted, and do their best to support them. The McCarthys are an impressive pair, and their compassion for not only these kids but their families is evident.
“We just tell our kids that we’re going to love them and take care of them while their parents are getting the help that they need and hopefully one day they are able to go back with them,” David says. “Unfortunately that doesn’t always happen, but like we tell other foster parents, don’t try to replace their parents because you never will.”
*name changed to protect privacy
To learn how you can become a respite care provider to help give dedicated foster parents like April and David a needed break, contact us here.
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