part 4

There was not a dry eye in the building ! I took his shirt off and there was this huge bruise on his side, with a very clear outline of 4 fingers, bugbites everywhere, a horrendous diaper rash and in the 6 mos he was gone he actually lost 6 oz................................what a mess.

The next 6 mos we spend getting him back in OT/PT, putting some weight on him, loving him up and ignoring the cusswords he had learned ( like a sailor !!)
Mom had dropped off the face of the earth, dad showed up in January 06 and asked for a chance, but the judge basically told him he had had 2 years and enough was enough.

Stuff was dragging on. I had started to do visits with the great aunt whenever she was in town ( she lives in another state) and at one of these visits we had a heart to heart. She understood that I was his mommy in his eyes and he already had been through so much. Bless this woman for being courageous enough and to know love, like a mother. She called the caseworker and withdrew her petition to get relative custody, so he could be adopted by us. I know she was hurt, but she loved him enough and cared enough to not want to cause him anymore harm.
The paternal grandmother was still fighting, but a child psychologist testified in court that he was very concerned about her denying to this day that M was ever abused. (She lived with them and she still says nothing ever happened) And that Max was so bonded to us that he would have severe attachment issues if taken away from us again. He made a very strong point that the attachment was not just to me but also to papa and his brother and sisters.

Finally, after 3 1/2 years, Max was adopted right before his 4th birtday, 2 years after he came back to us, on September 17th, 2007.

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