Growing up in a loving and kind family is easily taken for granted by many of us.
Most of us don’t realize that not everyone is lucky enough to have a mother and father by their side until a certain age.
And also, that millions of kids worldwide don’t have the blessing of a loving and warm home. But sadly, the 12-year-old Andrew from Nashville, Tennessee, understands and knows everything about that.
Some reports state that he spent half of his young life living in foster care, but his fortunes changed recently when a family decided to adopt him.
We don’t know which is sweeter: Andrew and Joc’s love of @KelloggsUS PopTarts, or the bond these two share! We are thrilled that Andrew has found his forever family with his best friend and new brother, Joc, and the Gill family. Thx @WSMV for sharing! https://t.co/OystsoBfwd pic.twitter.com/1w0uqDLtcc
— Youth Villages (@youthvillages) September 1, 2020
Andrew already was best friends with another young boy named Joc Gill, that was a part of his foster family that took care of him for a couple of years.
From the first day, it was clear that they would become fast friends. The boys loved spending time together, and their favorite thing to do together was to play video games and eat pop-tarts. Meanwhile, Joc’s Mother, Dominique, and Father Kevin also loved having Andrew around.
So, can you just imagine the joy and surprise that Andrew felt, then, when one day he was with Molly Parker (a worker from Youth Villages) at a casual walk in the park, and for the first time heard about the news that the Gill family is going to adopt him officially?
“I was just looking around and saw everybody,” says Andrew.
“Then they asked me ‘will you?’ and I screamed Yeah!”
Research states that there are over 8,000 kids in the system of Tennessee foster care waiting for their permanent home. But thanks to the empathy and kindness of the Gills, there is one kid less.
“Joc is my brother,” said Andrew
“Andrew is my brother,” said Joc
This kind of story simply brings tears of joy to everyone’s eyes. We should be thankful for families like the Gills and the fact that they gave a permanent home to Andrew.
#ThankYou Gill Family 😍 What a wonderful story Joc and Andrew. And I'm with them #FrostedCherryPopTarts! | A dream come true: Adoption unites best friends https://t.co/ZMmpI7PacO
— Karen Bowman (@KBow5) September 7, 2020