In December there was a new admission to the Children’s Home, a beautiful boy of about 12 years old. When I saw him, the question arose in my mind: “Why is this child at the Children’s Home”? I felt sad because he reminded me of my son. I became so attached to this child; whenever I saw him, I had to give him a hug and a kiss.
As time went on, not a day went by that I did not want to see him. I talked to his social worker and asked her if I could take Cody on a day trip. She gave permission and told me to just fill out a day trip form. At that same time, we lost a staff member to death and his funeral was on the day of our outing. Cody was worried that we wouldn’t be able to go on the day trip anymore and asked me if I wasn’t going to the funeral. I told him: “I made a promise to you and I’m not going to break it”. His social worker and I were just talking that very Friday about Cody who would still be in the Children’s Home for the next few years because there wasn’t any family coming forward.
On that Saturday morning, my two sons and I picked Cody up at the Children’s Home and drove to N1 Mall. I met my daughter there, and she decided to spend the day with us. We were on our way to the “games”, when I looked where Cody was, and saw him hugging a lady. I immediately paused and moved closer to ask him who the lady was. The lady pressed him tightly against her, and there were other ladies with her as well. We introduced ourselves to each other and she mentioned that she was a family member on his father’s side – a “niece”. I explained that I was working at the Durbanville Children’s Home and that Cody had arrived at the Children’s Home the previous December. He was so emotional and started crying because he told me that he had last seen the family five years ago. We exchanged phone numbers and that same night she contacted me. I advised her to contact Cody’s social worker if she wanted to know more about him. His aunt connected with his social worker and Cody went to visit the aunt for the Youth Day long weekend and during the school holidays.
I believe God planned that we should be at that specific place, on that specific day, at that specific time, so we could run into Cody’s family. Cody is such a sweet kid with the most beautiful manners; he is also very intelligent and does well in school.
“My wish is that one day his aunt will take him out of the Children’s Home”.