Chosen Before She Believed It
When Marcus and Denise Thompson walked into the group home in Louisville, Kentucky, twelve-year-old Jayda had already been through seven foster placements. She had learned that love was temporary. So when the Thompsons filed adoption papers, Jayda did everything she could to drive them away. She broke dishes. She screamed that they weren't her real family. She told her social worker she wanted to leave.
The Thompsons stayed.
Not because Jayda earned it. Not because she asked for it. Not because she was easy to love. They stayed because they had already decided she was theirs.
Months later, Jayda asked Denise a question at bedtime: "Why didn't you send me back?" Denise smoothed the girl's hair and said, "Because you were already our daughter. You just didn't know it yet."
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