After the eventful midnight surprise, and the disappearance of So’s parents, it was easy to be worried that they could show up at the door in the middle of the night again to take Sophia away because they were quite unpredictable thus far. So the next couple of months were very stressful, but they actually never came.
Gaining guardianship of Sophia wasn’t easy but it went smoothly. We got our ducks in a row pretty quickly and set up a court date to testify in front of a judge that we indeed should have guardianship of So So until Grace and Tony made a few changes. Beings how she was left at our house for so long, this case was almost considered an abandonment case, but they decided to give them a shot to fight it in front of a judge.
We had to undergo interviews, home walk-throughs, and surprise home visits to make sure Sophia in fact would be safe in our home, before the court day arrived.
The way setting the court day works is first we had to get an attorney. Then our attorney set the date, and by law, Sophia’s parents had to be served paperwork to let them know they were being summonsed to court, and if they didn’t show, guardianship of Sophia would just happen. We knew they were served, but what we didn’t know was whether or not they would come to court.
We all gathered in Sophias favor on the court day to testify that their home was unsafe for little So right now. Me and Dylan, Heather and Derek, Mema and Tom, and even Uncle LaLa! (my brother.) We all needed to state that we believed this would be what’s best for her right now.
They did arrive for court that day and we all gathered in front of the judge. The judge asked clarifying questions to both sides to get a feel for the situation, and I’m glad to say it went smoothly and quickly. There was no fighting, and everyone was upfront and honest. Even Sophias parents. My sister simply stated that this would probably be what was best for her right now… She wanted to go to beauty school still and had some things she wanted to accomplish.
It hurt for me to hear her say that that day, even though it was honesty… but since then I have taken time to ponder that statement. I have often wondered where that statement stemmed from? Was it a selfish statement? Of course this is the first place I went. I’m human… I went straight to anger. But then I wondered: Was it a way of avoiding feeling the loss? Her way of convincing herself to accept what had just happened? That she just lost her baby… Something I’m sure she never expected herself to do when she was a young girl dreaming about having a family one day.
I’m not sure, but I bet its the second one. <3
Having my own baby now has also just given those words a new meaning. And I always have to remind myself that they are sick and entrapped by a substance, and one day God will bring them home. I’ve never been there, so I can’t judge or say I would have done better or differently had I been faced with this decision. It’s just really shown me how powerful a drug can be… If you are a mother, then you know, there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for your child… So its impossible for me to comprehend.