It was in 1978 that the English couple Margaret Isdale and her husband Robert decided to welcome a teenage girl into their home to benefit from a foster family placement.
Now, almost 40 years later, they are receiving a lifetime achievement award, as these octogenarians have welcomed an incredible 150 children and teenagers.
They have experienced many special circumstances, including the removal of a boy’s kidney and the arrival of a child who had nothing but pajamas, but they have no intention of give up.
Originally from the town of Grantham, Lincolnshire, they received a lifetime achievement award from Lincolnshire Foster Services, whose administrator, Michelle Sawmynaden, was impressed by the couple, stating that in their 46 years of raising other people’s children, many of them returned to their original families or were adopted.
“It’s really a moral lesson. It’s not about us, it’s about the children in our care – they’re the most important,” Margaret said upon receiving the award.
Over the years, their love for children has manifested itself in different ways. There was Kim, who was 4 when she entered the Isdale home with a heart complication and Down syndrome. They traveled with her as much as possible until she died at the age of 21.
In other cases, the ending is happier, like for a child they were asked to be godparents. They have had two children of their own and, even in old age, continue to care for an eight-month-old baby.
People say, “How can you trust them?” Well, that’s part of our job, and sometimes when you surrender [a child], the adoptive parents or the birth parents stay in touch and tell you how grateful they are,” Mr Isdale said. “That in itself is a reward.
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