sibling visit

our kids have 3 older siblings. one with the same birth father, all with the same birth mother. their older half-sister and half-brother had only seen them once since they entered into foster care. we hoped to keep them in our kid’s lives. in august of 2004 they were 14 and 13 and living in the same foster home only half an hour away. we invited them and their foster mom over to meet. even though they hadn’t seen each other much the bond was obvious. we think being with her sister reminded our daughter of her mother. they brought early birthday presents and we all went to lunch nearby. the older kids took turns pushing the double stroller and feeding their younger siblings. we made a photo album for them and let them put the twins in for their afternoon nap. our daughter and her sister cried at having to say goodbye. we promised to see them again and realized that even though they’re not together, they’ll always be family, no matter where they live or how much time goes by.
we saw them again soon on a trip to the zoo together. since then they’ve been split up into separate foster homes. we saw their sister last summer but couldn’t arrange to see their brother at the same time. we keep their picture on our kid’s dresser and remind them of all their siblings, including their brother that moved far away that they haven’t seen in 4 years. when they were little they’d say goodnight to the photo each night before bed.