By Louis Luo | Communications Manager, China
Back in the 1970s, Li Jiangmei and her husband Liangshan worked long hours to make ends meet, Jiangmei as a sales clerk in a hardware store and Liangshan as a bus driver. They had a young daughter to care for and support, but Jiangmei never gave up on her dream of one day working with many more children in the early childhood education sector. She always knew she loved to be surrounded by young children, joyfully singing, dancing, and playing together.Her dream finally came true in 2009 when she and her husband became foster parents in OneSky’s Family Village Program.
By then, their own daughter was a young adult pursuing her college education. She was proud of her parents for wanting to serve as full-time caregivers, raising children from orphanages with special needs or medical conditions who didn’t have families of their own.
Before becoming foster parents, Jiangmei and Liangshan attended classes taught by OneSky professionals to learn best practices in early childhood education. “What impressed me most was that the trainers cared about our well-being as caregivers as well as the needs of the children. They helped us to understand and process emotions that would come up as we began caring for the little ones,” she recalled.
Over the years, Jiangmei kept a memory book that she named My Happiest Memories, containing photos and handwritten anecdotes about she and Liangshan fostered. Some of those children were eventually adopted, mostly overseas. She said that often, as she finishes a day’s work, she sits quietly on the couch, turning one page after another, lost in remembering some of the children she had cared for over the years.
“How can I forget Yunyun, such a lovely and sweet girl? She gave me so much hope and confidence when I first became her foster mom!” Jiangmei recalled.
Yunyun entered the foster family as a toddler in 2009. Jiangmei immediately felt a deep, loving connection to her. Yunyun had congenital heart disease and, fortunately, recovered quite well after surgery. “She became very close to us, very affectionate and loving. I could tell that she trusted us.”
Within a year after her recovery, Yunyun was adopted and relocated to the United States. When they said goodbye, Jiangmei and Liangshan were sad but knew that being raised in a permanent family was the best choice for her.
“I can’t help but think that Yunyun is 16 years old now. If I saw her today face to face, I wonder if I would recognize her. We still miss,” Jiangmei said, noting that she and her husband still talk about her on occasion and wonder what she is doing now.
Mengmeng, another of their foster children, struggled with a medical condition that kept her chronically underweight. She was four years old and was receiving ongoing medical treatment after her surgery. Mengmeng made progress day by day, and her attachment to the couple grew deeper and deeper because of the love and care they showered on her. She also forged strong bonds with her foster siblings too. Like Yunyun, Mengmeng was adopted into a loving, permanent family. “I can’t believe it,’ Jiangmei exclaimed, pointing to a photo of a young girl in her memory book. “She would be 17 years old now.”
Liangshan spotted another child, Xialan, in the memory book, In the photo, she wore a red flower hairpin and was scooping sand happily, while Liangshan stood beside her.
“She made a deep impression on me,” he said. “It’s been 13 years since her adoption, but I still remember quite clearly that every time I came home from work, she would run and take out my slippers for me. “She loved to play outside with me and the rest of our family,” Liangshan recalled.
During weekends and holidays, Liangshan liked to drive the family to enjoy local tourist attractions. One time, they went to a lake to take a boat tour. When the conductor found out that they were foster parents and all their five children were from the orphanage, he decided not to charge their boat fees and even bought food for them. Jiangmei and Liangshan were so touched by the conductor’s kindness and felt proud so proud of their family.
When asked to pass on any important advice to new parents, Jiangmei and her husband said they value love, patience, and keen observational skills the most. “Without those qualities, children’s needs can be easily missed by parents. Sometimes when your emotions are triggered, you need to take time to calm down so you can talk to your children and come up with solutions later,” they shared.
Holding her memory book tightly, Jiangmei added, “I will keep this book forever and share it with all of my friends. I feel so blessed!”
Jiangmei and her husband sometimes imagine if they were to meet all the children from the memory book in person now, and how excited they would feel. “Just thinking about it makes me emotional! I hope all of them can still speak Chinese,” she said, laughing.
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By Louis Luo | Communications Manager, China
By Debbie Cohen | Director of Donor Communications
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