What I found — and lost — in foster care
Shaylene Lakey poses for her Grade 3 school photo in Kelowna, B.C.
Initially, living with my father was great. He was our world — funny, loving, all the things we needed or thought we needed. Chips for breakfast, Chinese food for Christmas dinner, and so many other fond memories. As an adult, I'm more aware of the larger issues that were at play — the child protection concerns. We lived in hotels and moved around. Often, I didn't go to school and sometimes food was sparse.
I experienced waves of shame at feeling relieved to be in a stable foster home; where I was encouraged to go to school every day; where I had food and I had clothing. It was a difficult feeling to reconcile as a child because I loved my father and wanted to live with him, but I also wanted stability.
I began to question the church, its values, the judgements. How did I fit into any of it when I didn't fit into my own skin? Eventually, I reconnected with my older siblings who grew up on our reserve and it was the most surreal experience. We shared the same mother and had so much of the same life but we were worlds apart.
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