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Health & Fitness

The Forgotten Children

Nine year old Megan ran as fast as she could to catch up with her teacher.  “Miss Farrell, wait, please.  It’s important!” Jean Farrell, a pretty 27 year old woman stopped in her tracks and turned to see the little girl.  She wondered what had happened.  Megan had been crying and she certainly didn’t appear to be ready for school, her hair was a mess.  She was still wearing her pajama bottoms with a sweater on top.  “Please, Miss Farrell.  My momma is very sick and I don’t know what to do.”  “Come on, she’s down the street, I’ll show you.”  Little Megan continued to run and Jean Farrell followed.   Megan explained, “I need to get her to a hospital.  I think she’s got breast cancer.” Jean was not expecting Megan to open the passenger door of an old Toyota Tercel which had seen better days before the millennium,  “Here she is.  Here’s my momma.  Do you think you can help me get her to a hospital?” The realization struck Jean that Megan and her mother had been living in the car and that Megan had been her mother’s caregiver.  What enormous pressure this nine year old must live under.  Jean held back tears as she saw the woman sprawled across the back seat writhing in pain.  She took Megan’s hand and promised to help.  She asked Megan if it would be all right to drive the car to the hospital.  Megan had the key and remarked that she wasn’t sure there was enough gas.  Jean nodded and got behind the wheel.  Megan jumped in on the passenger side and buckled her seat belt.  Jean called the school on her cell phone and explained that she had an emergency and would be late today.  As they drove away from this lonely stretch of road behind a supermarket the realization stunned her that this little girl had been living under these stressful conditions and nobody knew.

The car pulled into the emergency entrance and Jean motioned for Megan to stay in the car with her mom to wait for a stretcher.  Jean proceeded to the office to explain the situation and a gurney was brought out for Megan’s mother. Jean took the little girl’s hand as they followed.  Several hours later a doctor came to the waiting room and approached Jean and Megan.  The doctor explained that Megan’s mother was close to death.  She had an inoperable tumor.  The cancer, they were able to determine had already spread to other organs.  All they could do would be palliative care to make her comfortable until death.  Megan burst into tears, sobbing her little heart out.  She wanted to see her momma.  The doctor agreed and showed the way to the examining room.  Megan climbed on the bed next to the dying woman and Jean began to weep.  She asked if she could stay in the room with her mom and the doctor agreed  Jean was torn about what she should do.  She decided to go home to her apartment, eat something, get some rest.  She would make room for Megan to stay with her for a while until they could get things sorted out.  Jean whispered to the little girl that she would come back later with some food.  Megan nodded okay then put her hand on my mother's mouth and patted it gently.  "Don't worry Momma, don't worry.  I tried to take good care of you,  I tried Momma but God is going to take much better care of you than I ever could.  I love you, Momma.  I love you.

The following morning Megan’s mother passed away while Megan and Jean were holding her hands in theirs.  They stood on either side of her bed and quietly cried.  Eventually Jean persuaded Megan to come home to her apartment where she could get cleaned up and rest for a while.  They could even go out together for dinner.  Megan nodded okay.  She said she had gone out for dinner with her momma a few times before her momma had gotten sick.  Jean asked how long had they been living in the car.  Megan explained that was when her momma’s factory closed down, about two years ago.  Jean asked how did they manage – what did they do to take care of their needs?  Megan said they went to McDonald’s drive-thru for meals and washed up at gas station restrooms.  They bought cereal at the supermarket, they made jelly sandwiches.  She said, “It’s not really a hard life but you can’t be expecting other people to help.  Besides, they probably don’t  even care.”  Jean asked, “How come you came to me for help?”  Megan broke into a smile and said, “I just knew you were the only one I could trust.  I just knew it, that’s all.” 

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Jean Farrell was able to adopt Megan after many months of strenuous battles and miles of red tape.  They share an unbreakable bond and their mission is to locate other forgotten children and do whatever they can to help the homeless.  So far they have found 18 other children who attend their school who are living in cars, in motor homes, under bridges, on the streets or in homeless shelters.  They share their food, their stories, their caring and their hope.  Some statistics show that nearly three million people will experience homelessness at some point during the year.  The fastest growing homeless population is families with children and returning veterans.  Shocking data for the richest country in the world.

 

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