The little girl spent years being frightened and dreaming of having a forever home. Then she was introduced to her 2nd-grade teacher, who helped make the dream a reality.
When a child doesn’t have a family to call their own, the best gift in life would be someone to love and care for them.
Loralie Henry is a 9-year-old girl who knows this very well, having been in the system longer than most kids because of delays associated with the pandemic.
It had been a very long and frightening journey for her.
Loralie went to foster care when she was 4, back to her biological mom when she was 5, and finally was returned to the system when she was 6.
Clearly, Loralie hasn’t had the easiest life. Loralie told ABC 7:
“It was actually really scary, too. I didn’t know what to expect in other homes or what they would feed me.
I didn’t really know what to do. So I thought, ‘Well, what should I do? Is there anyone waiting for me?’ I was really scared. Until I met my mom. My second grade teacher.”
Zoe is a teacher living in La Verne, California, who also happens to be a single mom.
For her, adoption was nowhere on her mind when she met Loralie. She was just trying to keep things in her life together.
Still, as we all know, we never expect a miracle to enter our lives when it does!
When the pair first met, Zoe could immediately tell that Loralie was a special girl.
When Zoe saw her for the first time, she literally says that she knew she was going to be her daughter!
“She came into my class, and I just took one look at her – her little freckles, her little birthmark,” Zoe said.
“I am going to adopt this little girl. She’s my daughter. The minute I set eyes on her.”
She was worried that Loralie was going to be adopted by someone else first, but thankfully, that didn’t happen.
She reached out to the adoption agency and learned that it was still possible for her to be adopted.
That was all that Zoe needed.
It was like Loralie had just received a birthday present – she was going to finally have a permanent home!
The process was just starting, but Loralie was going to have a mom and a place to live, never having to worry about where she would end up next.
“She’s been in a lot of places, had a lot of obstacles to find her way here. But we’re very thankful for that journey, and it’s made her a brave and strong and just an amazing little girl,” Zoe told ABC7.
“She is probably the most compassionate person I know.”
Since covid, processes were slowed significantly.
Nearly two years after Loralie went home with Zoe, they were finally able to celebrate the “official” adoption in front of everyone.
Normally, the celebration would happen in a courthouse, but this time it was going to be a digital ceremony.
Still, it was just as special!
Little Loralie had spent 1,445 days in foster care – but in the end, she got the beautiful forever family she’d been dreaming of.