I was recently sitting in the kitchen at my parents house while the kids played for a while. While sitting at the table, I looked over at my mother and said something that i’ve said plenty of times over the years, “I would have never imagined our lives being this way.” Now don’t get me wrong, we are truly, truly blessed. However, if you would have asked me 10 years ago how I pictured things would be today, this wasn’t exactly what I pictured. You see, my parents will be 70 years old next year and they are currently raising young, school aged children. In addition to my adopted brother who is now 23, they have three of my father’s great nieces (12, 10 & 10) and one great nephew (8) all living with them. If you were to ask my mother why they decided to raise children at their age, she would quickly say that raising children has always been her purpose in life and that God placed them in their home. And now at 33, I really believe that. Not many people would take in other children, let alone in their 60’s! Let’s add “with very little help” to that sentence. Shoot, I know many people who are much younger and literally said that they couldn’t do it! Let’s be honest, we all know that raising children is challenging, yet rewarding!

As mentioned in my earlier post, the four younger children are my father’s great nieces and nephew… Which makes them my cousins… however, they call me auntie Shon. Lol. Nine years ago, two of my cousins (twins) moved in with my parents when they were 8 months old, and the others came a year later when they were four and one. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t the happiest when all of this unfolded and it actually took me a little while to grasp onto the idea. But I had to accept the fact that this was my parents calling and this definitely wasn’t their first rodeo when it came to raising children. And so when the other two came a year later, I was already prepared for the new season. Now fast forward 9 years and they are apart of my everyday life as well!

I know that it’s common for elderly people to raise younger children. It happens pretty often, although i’m sure that many people are unaware of this. Whether it’s the grandparents, great aunts, great uncles, etc. Maybe that person had to step up because someone passed away, or the parents were addicted to drugs and alcohol and CPS or DSS stepped in? I know a few grandparents who are raising their grandchildren currently and I definitely respect them for that! So, where are my grandparents, great aunts/uncles, or even golden aged people who just wanted to help change a life for the better at? The ones who have made the sacrifice to raise someone else’s child/children as their own? I would love to hear! Please give them a shout out below and drop a picture if you have one! I’ll start!