Reader’s Digest Australia & New Zealand – May 2019

READER’S DIGEST

May• 2019 | 61

boys’.“Herewasthisscared,bewil-
deredlittleboywitha speechdefect,”
Tomsaid.“He’dendedupina mental
hospitalonlybecausehisparentshad
beenkilledina caraccident,andthe
statehadnowhereelsetoputhim.
Thatflooredme.”
Outwardlyfun-lovingandeasy-
going,Tomhadcarriedanaching
emptinessinsidesincethedeath
ofhismotherwhenhewas12.Now
herewassomeonewhosharedthe
sameneed,someonehecouldhelp,
andbyhelpingsomehow– together

• fillthatneedforbothofthem.But
  Tom didn’t tell it like that. “I looked

atAndy,”hesaidaswesatonthe
guttedporch,“andI sawmyself.”
TomaskedtotakeAndyhome.
Thehospitaladministratorstared
hardathimfora longmoment,and
thenhisfacesoftened.“Tom,”he
said,“whatmakesyouthinkyou
cantakecareofthischild?”
“Sir,”Tomrepliedsoftly,“ina place
likethis,whatmakesyouthinkyou
can?”Andywasinformallyreleased
inTom’scustody.
Buta hospitalstaffmemberwas
soon on the phone. A state inspector

hadorderedthatAndybereturned.

Tomrefused;kidnapchargeswere

threatened.

Tomtookthetearfulboybackand

thenheadedforthestatecapital,

whereachild-welfaresupervisor

woulddecideifa 19yearoldcould

beallowedtocareofAndy.

Keptwaitingallmorning,Tom

finallymarchedintothebureau-

crat’soffice.Whenthemanthreat-

enedtocalllawenforcement,Tom

shotback,“Goahead,putmein

jail.I’llmakesurethecourtroom

isfullofreporters.Thenwe’llsee

what folks say when they find out

whathappenstokidsdownontheir

luc k .”

Tomgot Andy back–and the

licencemakinghimthefirstsingle

fosterparentinMissouri’shistory.

Ayearlaterhewasawardedcustody

ofDan,whosedrunkenfatherhad

killedtheboy’smother.Tomakeends

meetwhileTomfinishedschool,the

threedidlaundryforotherstudents

andsoldpizzasdoor-to-door.

After graduation Tom visited

GeorgeMeuschke,aninsurance

man who was much taken by this

Thehospitaladministratorstaredhardathim

fora longmoment.“Tom,whatmakes

you think you can take care of this child?”