This holiday season, a Kentucky family is celebrating their ninth Christmas together, marking a heartwarming journey that began in an unexpected place.
Jason Smith, a dedicated school principal for 14 years, encountered his future daughter, Raven Whitaker-Smith, under unusual circumstances back in 2015.
Raven was just a sixth-grader then, suspended and waiting outside his office.
Recalling their first meeting, Jason shared with “Good Morning America,” “She was just this sweet looking, little innocent child sitting there, kind of defeated.”
He learned that Raven’s suspension was due to a minor incident involving a cup of yogurt.
What struck him most was her response when he asked if she’d ever throw food in a restaurant: she had never been to one.
At that time, Raven was living in a group home, having faced a turbulent journey through the foster care system.
Jason’s encounter with Raven deeply moved him, but he hesitated to discuss it with his wife, Marybeth Smith, initially.
The Smiths had faced their own challenges, struggling with infertility and eventually leaving behind their dream of adopting after fostering three siblings who were later returned to their biological parents.
When Jason finally opened up about Raven, Marybeth sensed the significance of this connection.
“This was something that, obviously, he felt pretty passionate about,” she told “GMA.”
The Smiths, moved by Raven’s story, began to explore the possibility of fostering her.
They reached out to her caseworker and underwent the process of becoming recertified as foster parents.
By June 2015, they were ready to welcome Raven into their home.
For Raven, the transition was initially challenging.
“It was really weird at first,” she admitted, having seen Jason as a disciplinarian at school.
However, the Smiths’ warmth and welcoming nature soon made her feel like part of the family.
Despite her initial doubts about the permanence of this arrangement, Raven eventually realized that the Smiths were meant to be her parents.
The journey wasn’t without its hurdles.
Raven tested the boundaries, seeking assurance of the Smiths’ commitment.
“I gave them a bunch of trouble to see what would happen,” she recalled.
Marybeth understood this resistance, recognizing Raven’s past disappointments with adults.
The family also worked together to overcome Raven’s educational gaps, with her progressing from a third-grade reading level at age 11 to catching up with her high school peers.
Their perseverance paid off.
On November 3, 2017, the Smiths formally adopted Raven, a momentous step in their shared journey.
Fast forward, and Raven is now a junior at the University of Kentucky, studying social work.
This choice was inspired by her own experiences, and she feels a deep connection to her field of study.
“I’m where I’m supposed to be,” she told her parents after her first social work class.
Raven’s story, which she shared in an essay for National Adoption Month, highlights the transformative power of adoption.
With nearly 400,000 kids in the U.S. foster care system and over 8,000 in Kentucky alone, her story is a beacon of hope.
“Being fostered by a great set of parents did not erase my trauma, but they provided me with an atmosphere where I learned how to work through it, believe in myself, and give hope to a hopeless kid,” she wrote.
The Smiths’ journey with Raven has been a source of immense joy, especially during the holidays. Marybeth Smith fondly recalls the change in their Christmas celebrations: “We might have put up one [Christmas] tree before Raven … but she’s made the holidays worth celebrating and we now have not one tree but like 10 trees in the house … we have a mantle full of stockings.”
Their story is proof of the transformative power of love, support, and the willingness to open one’s home and heart to a child in need.
Learn more about Raven and her loving parents in the video below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
