Some stories don’t fit neatly into one box… and ours is one of them. During Foster Care Awareness Month, I also want to acknowledge the intersectionality between foster care, kinship care, guardianship, and adoption. While Karleigh was never officially in foster care, there were still layers of transition, loss, uncertainty, and rebuilding that shaped all of our lives. Karleigh came into our lives at 12 years old, and Rick and I became her permanent guardians. What people don’t always see is that stepping into parenting through guardianship comes with its own set of challenges, adjustments, heartbreak, healing, and learning. Love was there… but so were the hard days. The “figuring it out” days. The days where trust had to be built slowly and intentionally. The days where everybody involved was carrying something heavy. But family isn’t always built in the traditional order. Sometimes family is chosen in the middle of chaos. Sometimes love shows up later and still changes everything. ...