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“I Received a Call. ‘We Have a 14-Year-Old Boy Who Needs a Home.’ I Was Like ‘NO Way'”: Single Mom Becomes Foster Parent to...

"I was a single mom of two boys, doing it 100% on my own. Why in the world would I even consider being a foster parent?"

Dying Mom Loses It After Watching Son With Down Syndrome Score His First Touchdown

Michigan’s Novi High School senior Robby Heil is the official “hydration manager” for his high school football team. He has Down syndrome, but any player or coach on the team would tell you he’s been an integral part of the Wildcat family for the last three and a half years.

Dad Captures the Heart-Throbbing Moment His 12-Year-Old Daughter Delivers Wife’s Baby

“We were all very emotional and it was like no feeling I've ever felt. It's not every day your eldest child at 12 years old gets to deliver your last child."

“On Labor Day, I Lost My 3-Year-Old Autistic Son at the Worst Place Possible: A Water Park”: Mom Warns Parents It ‘Takes a Village’ to Save a Child

People ran, whistles blew. A young man with an internal calm stayed with me and said they’d find my boy. In what condition, I wondered.

And then, after what felt like forever in mom panic mode, a young girl walked over a bridge carrying him on her hip. He had gone behind a building to play.

Courtesy Stephanie Hanrahan

There is no greater fear than losing a child. I lost mine—and we lived to tell about it. We are the lucky ones.

I dress my children in neon when we’re out in public. They’re always wearing floatation devices, but it was required he take them off to go down the slide, so we followed the rules and did, which is why for those unfortunate few minutes he was unprotected. I wish I could say I was distracted by my phone, or talking to a friend, but my eyes never left his body. And yet, he is fast, and he was gone. Guilt has kept me awake every night since.

Courtesy Stephanie Hanrahan

The minutes he was missing are a blur to me, but what I do recall is bodies running, and swimming, and calling after my son. Those who were employed by the water park, and those who were bystanders. Mr. Rogers once gave the sage advice to, ‘look for the helpers,’ when you’re scared, and he was right. We can’t do it without our community. Who knows what would’ve happened to my boy if systems weren’t in place and people didn’t care.

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They say it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a village to save one too. These babies belong to all of us, and we have to ask for help when we need it—and even when we think we don’t. Whether it’s a lost child, an infant who won’t sleep, or a teenager who’s suicidal, it’s too much to handle alone. We have an obligation to look for the helpers.

Likely they’re hiding in plain sight just waiting to rescue us.

Courtesy Stephanie Hanrahan

**This story was written by Stephanie Hanrahan, published with permission.

Stephanie Hanrahan
Stephanie Hanrahan
Stephanie Hanrahan is wife to a sick husband, mother to special needs kiddos, and a woman who often unravels then finds her footing again. Learn how she traded her pretending for a panty liner on Instagram, Facebook, and her blog, Tinkles Her Pants (www.tinklesherpants.com), where she leaks nothing but the truth.

“I Received a Call. ‘We Have a 14-Year-Old Boy Who Needs a Home.’ I Was Like ‘NO Way'”: Single Mom Becomes Foster Parent to...

"I was a single mom of two boys, doing it 100% on my own. Why in the world would I even consider being a foster parent?"

Dying Mom Loses It After Watching Son With Down Syndrome Score His First Touchdown

Michigan’s Novi High School senior Robby Heil is the official “hydration manager” for his high school football team. He has Down syndrome, but any player or coach on the team would tell you he’s been an integral part of the Wildcat family for the last three and a half years.

Dad Captures the Heart-Throbbing Moment His 12-Year-Old Daughter Delivers Wife’s Baby

“We were all very emotional and it was like no feeling I've ever felt. It's not every day your eldest child at 12 years old gets to deliver your last child."