Kids, Kids and Then Some
I have to apologize for the belated posting of this because I clipped a couple of articles several days ago and promptly buried the clipping before posting. So I can't tell you what day these were in the paper. First, out of Tennessee, an AP report of Roger and Imogene Gorsuch (both 86) who, over the last 45 years, have fostered 233 children. These wonderful people, who had been married for 20 years when they decided to start taking in children, also had three sons and a daughter together. So they were not a childless couple looking to fill a void in their lives. They were just so open hearted that they ... well, let me quote Mrs. Gorsuch, "Blessed with a comfortable home, adequate income and everything we needed, we had a desire to share this with others less fortunate. ... Whether sick or well, it didn't matter. They were 'ours' already - 13 different cultures, seven sets of twins, physically or developmentally delayed, abused crack babies, profoundly retarded, tiny preemies, or with severe medical problems, all needing tender loving care." One of their daughters said, "It was a good life. We just had more brothers and sisters." Sounds like they reared her right.
This strikes me as yet more proof that theirs was the Greatest Generation. I don't believe this magnanimity of spirit is much in the Baby Boomers. There may be exceptions but Boomers seem (and I am a Boomer boy) much more self-absorbed and interested in having their own appetites sated than in taking care of others. It is a failing of mine so I don't escape the blame I assign to my own generation. Still, read on....
What really brought the Gorsuch's generosity and greatness of spirit into sharp relief was a story out of South Dakota that was printed immediately beside their story. Datelined Sioux Falls, it reported that Francisco Pinto-Gutierrez (22) and Lacota Odette Stonearrow (27) were arrested and charged with child abuse and neglect when their 7-month old son was left in a Kmart parking lot. No gratuitous Kmart jokes please! This couple (I want to say of what they are a couple but I'm trying the self-restraint thing), it seems, argued about who was going to take care of the infant when she took him out of the car and left him in the parking lot with Francisco. She then drove off and Francisco walked away. When they were arrested a 2-year old girl was removed from (and I quote) "Miss Stonearrow's" custody.
What scum. I don't care how difficult their lives are. Two kids, unmarried and willing to leave an infant in a parking lot in winter in South Dakota. Maybe the Gorsuches might be willing to take in just two more kids. God bless them.
This is precisely the sort of story that makes me think judicial sterilization is part of an appropriate sentence.