While most of us spend each day in comfort, knowing that our families will be waiting back home for us, others aren’t nearly as lucky. It’s easy to feel this way, and this sense of security is easy to take for granted.
Some people out there, like these 7 children, don’t get to live the same life we do.
A group of 7 children, all siblings, made the news in 2019 when their parents’ lives ended tragically. The parents were in a sudden car crash, and though the children survived, their mother and father succumbed to their injuries and passed away. This left behind 7 orphaned children, and it all happened far too quickly.
This caught the attention of Pam Willis. She’d stumbled upon the story of heartbreak on her news feed. As we’ll see later, Pam’s discovery of the news story would be a life-changing difference.
All 7 children were in foster care, the only other place they could go.
Pam found their faces too strong and too innocent to ignore. Something on these children’s faces spoke to Pam, and she didn’t take long to make up her mind on what to do about it.
These children needed a mom, and she was sure as hell going to make that happen.
“They had been in foster care for a year since their parents had been killed in the car accident that they all had miraculously survived. Who would keep them all together? Who would have the space for them? Who would have the time, and the love, and the patience for their trauma? The answer was clear… we would. Why else did we have a six bedroom house that was about to have it’s last child’s bedroom vacated?” – Pam Willis wrote in an Instagram post
She showed her husband, Gary Willis, the news article. They noted down the number at the end of the article – the one that went to the foster home. Pam and Gary had 5 children of their own already, but they all grew up and flew away from the nest by this time.
Upon calling, the number informed them that thousands of other people had called the same number already.
They’d looked after children from foster homes before, but adoption wasn’t something they’d done before. Nearing retiring age, taking 7 kids into your household would be quite the step. Pam herself wasn’t sure if her husband would be on board with it, but to her surprise, he was on the same page the whole time.
Despite the countless other people willing to adopt the 7 kids – whose names were Aleecia, Ruby, Adelino, Aubriella, Anthony, Xander and Leo – Pam and Gary succeeded in the screening process and were able to adopt the kids.
It should go without saying that the loss of their parents was an incredibly traumatizing experience for the children, as it would be for anyone else.
Even before the worst that had happened to them, the kids already weren’t living the best life.
Their family was effectively under poverty, and never had a true place to call home. Now with Pam and Gary, these kids are finally getting to live life the way children should. With a family and a roof over their heads.
Pam shared some more details about their new life together with Today. One noteworthy thing was how deprived of security the children felt.
Pam recalled one of them, who was 7 at the time, coming into their room. When Pam asked her “Did you have a bad dream?”, she instead replied ‘No, I just wanted to make sure that you were still here.’”
Taking in a traumatized child, let alone 7 of them, is no easy task.
But mothers are heroes in their own right, and no one can make you feel quite as loved and at home as a mom. Not everyone can say that they’ve given 7 children a new life, but Pam and Gary definitely can.
Everyone needs a family, and sometimes family goes beyond blood. With a place to call home, and a mom and dad to look after them now, we can sleep soundly at night knowing that these 7 kids are safe and sound now.
Visit Pam Willis’ Instagram account to see how their family has fun, and please share this article too!
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