The Christmas Poem Collection: Christmas Poem 2004

In the year of 2004 at a family Christmas party, we were all challenged to write our life to the tune of a Christmas song as part of a game. This launched a yearly tradition for our family, and since 2004, we have been writing a song or poem every year at Christmas time. I thought it would be fun to share these past poem with you. While reading back through them, I personally forgot that half this stuff even happened! So for your enjoyment, here is the poem that started it all. Read in the style of "T'was the Night Before Christmas", here is The Gavin's poem for 2004.



T'was a fight over Sean's mess, cause all through the place,
Drywall was flying, walls were erased.
The couch was now stuccoed, the Dry Waller gone,
All that remained was chaos and Sean.
The bathtub was burried in the backyard with care,
The unfinished projects loomed in the air.

The children were growing too large for their beds,
Dylan whacked AJ over the head.
While Jacquelyn sold Fabtech and Sean barked commands,
To all of the framers working his land.

When in frount of Lot 18 there arose a loud clatter,
Sean threw his Nextel and leaped over a ladder.
And what to his bloodshot eyes did he see?
But an oversized forklift atop his Chevy.

The insurance paid, he rebuilt his truck,
With a sigh he proclaimed, "Now my truck dosen't suck!"
So away to LA we flew like a flash,
To the searing hot laser and the depletion of cash,
Our tattoos are fading, but there's an absence of noice,
Our minds are now racing, "Who's watching the boys?"

With so many grammies, some wrinkly, some thick,
We forgot for a moment which Grammy we'd picked.
More rapid than lightning the days and events came,
Each one needing a sitter, or chain.

To counceling! To Taekwondo! To T-Ball! To class!
To dinners! To churches! To mentoring! Alas!
Our apologies for leaving now, but in a hurry we are,
Merry Christmas to everyone, can you please move your cars?

The Gavin Family
2004

The Wal-Mart Baby: Chapter 11

In September of 2010, just as Summer's dad seemed to be making significant progress, things began to change. We were certain that he had began using drugs again, just by the looks of him, and we kept talking to Summer's social worker about out concerns. 

It seemed like everything was moving forward in dad's favor. Finally one day, Summer's social worker confidentially told me that CPS knew what was going on. This helped relieve some of our anxiety because Summer's 6 month hearing was scheduled for October of 2010. 

This was the hearing that would award Summer's dad with weekend visits and begin the reunification process. We were afraid of Summer spending the weekend with her dad, especially if he was back to using drugs. 

Shortly before the October trial, I arrived at the CPS office for Summer's visit with her dad, only to find that he had been arrested and returned to jail. Summer's aunt, however, begged for the visits to continue and so Summer saw her aunt every week instead.

At the hearing in October, dad was unable to attend because of a transportation error and so the trial was postponed to January 2011. 

All the while we began to feel hopeful because dad only had until April of 2011 to have his reunification plan completed. We knew there was no way that he could complete it but we were nervous about how many chances CPS might give him when he got out of jail.

Then a new challenge presented itself. 

We found out that the aunt was now fighting hard to get custody of Summer, with dad's full support. He must have felt that his chances were very slim in getting Summer back so he began petitioning the court to give Summer to his sister, a true blood relative.

Then one day I get a call from CPS notifying me that someone had filed a complaint against me saying that Summer was being abused, neglected and that I was using drugs.

This meant that CPS was going to have to conduct a full investigation. I had to address all 7 of the complaints that were written in the report. To prove that Summer was not being neglected, we were required to take her to the doctor and have the doctor sign off on that charge. I had to testify at the next hearing and answer questions about my education and career and background, as well as explain to the court how Summer got each and every bump and scrape that the "anonymous caller" had reported. CPS also had to come out and reinspect our home and update everything.

We were very upset and we knew that it was Summer's dad or aunt that had called in the report because they complained that Summer had a large "gash" on her foot which proved that she was being neglected. The only two people who had witnessed a rub mark on Summer's foot from her sandals, was aunt and dad at a visit one day. 

The silly part was that the 7th item mentioned on the report was my drug usage. Why that wasn't a top priority to the person filing the report is a mystery to me.

The family had been doing everything in their power to discredit us, and now they had begun lying. 

We soon found out that even Summer's mom began to petition the courts to give Summer to the aunt. The court asked the aunt why she did not come forward way back in November of 2009 when Summer's permanent placement was being decided. 

Auntie claimed that she was never notified, and that the previous CPS worker had tried to dissuade her so the court agreed to inspect her home and consider her for permanent placement.

We were very nervous. And Summer's auntie confidently and openly began voicing her future plans for Summer.

Knowing the advantage that a family member has over a non-relative, Summer's social worker called us and urged us to file for De Facto status for Summer. She told us to do it right away and it might help sway the outcome. We were very thankful for that piece of advise because we did not even know what this process was.  The social worker all but signed the form for us and we turned in the paper work just in time for it to be brought up at the next hearing. De Facto status is something that you can file which states that you have an emotional interest and bond with the child and you are telling the courts that you are the acting parent. It gives you the right to be privy to all court proceedings involving that child, even if they are placed in a new location. This status would give us credibility in the courts eyes and allow us to keep track of Summer if she did get placed with the aunt. 

At the next hearing, the judge instantly awarded us De Facto status without us even having to elaborate on the request. This was a small victory and it would aid us in all future court decisions because a De Facto parent has almost equal status as a blood relative. 

When the trial came in January 2011, we were prepared to hear the court decision regarding aunt's petition for placement. 

Like previously, Sean and I were asked to leave the court room while the family spoke to the judge. When we were called back in the courtroom, there was a lot of crying. Auntie was sobbing, dad was teary. Sean and I looked around trying to read by everyone's face what had happened.

The judge announced that auntie had withdrawn her application and the termination of parental rights would take place in May 2011. 

We were absolutely astonished but ecstatic.

We attended the 2.6 hearing in May 2011and it was moved to June 2011 so that Summer's dad could attend. He was released from jail and was frantically trying to complete his year long program in 4 weeks, without CPS footing the bill. 

Summer's mom miraculously popped back into the picture again and began attending visits, as well as parenting classes. These folks had 4 weeks until they were going to loose their daughter and they were scrambling to make a good impression.

When the June 2011 termination trial finally came, Sean had to go alone. I had to attend a mandatory training and so I was in agony all day, awaiting Sean's texts with the proceedings. 

It didn't take long for the judge to officially terminate the parental rights of both the mother and the father and any other fathers that might come forward.

It was official!!!! 20 long months of emotional turmoil, family drama and court dates were finally over.

That was the most beautiful text that I ever received, Sean telling me that all parental rights had been terminated. 

Summer was now an official orphan, a ward of the court, and she was officially free to be adopted. Ironically I was attending a training with Cristal when I received the news and we hugged and cried and marveled at the awesomeness of God, Cristal knowing first hand how unbelievable and wonderful it all was!

So here we are now. 

 November 2011. 

 No CPS visits. Only an occasional email from auntie requesting pictures of Summer.

We had joked about changing her name to Summer Dae (Summer Day) since she was a baby, but we began to seriously consider a name change if and when her parental rights were terminated. I loved the name Emma and it was very close sounding to Summer. We decided that for her own safety, changing her name would be a wise decision. We began calling her "Emma" as soon as her worker said it was OK to do so. We decided to keep her middle name of "Leanne" as a tie to her past. The name "Emma" means "complete" and that is just how we felt with her in our family. 

It did not take very long for us to all fall into a habit of calling her Emma, but she still answers to Summer too. Usually she will argue with you if you call her Summer, she will say, "I'm not Summer, I'm Emma!" However she will also say, "I'm not a stinker, I'm a booger!"

We are not her official parents yet but Emma was transferred to the adoption unit, she received a new adoption worker and the request for a homestudy was submitted. The homestudy will be in depth background check that every adoptive parent must go through. It typically takes 3 to 6 months and it consists of in-depth interviews and screenings. We had a moment of panic wondering if CPS could access our old records and see that we had to terminate the previous homestudy back in 2009 because of Mr. Spoon, but miraculously, CPS is swamped with homestudies right now and so they outsourced it to a outside private company. 

It appears that even Mr. Spoon has sunk into the sea of forgetfulness. 

When the parental rights were terminated, Emma's parents had 60 days to appeal the judgment in an outside court, and they did. 

An appeals process will only look at the facts that were given while a CPS care was underway, so if they win the lottery and can now hire nannies and buy a mansion, that new information will not be looked at. The appeals process checks to make sure that the family was given due process all along. CPS assures us that an appeal is never granted. 

Yet an appeal will take approximately 6 extra months so the hearing and the homestudy should be finished around the same time, hopefully in April or May of 2012. After that, we finalize the adoption and Emma Leanne Gavin will be ours.

Until then, we meet with the adoption worker once a month and we just live life with Emma as our daughter.

Are we worried that we may fail the homestudy? Yes.

Are we out of the woods yet? Not quite.

Have we seen the last of Summer's biological family? Probably not.

But I know the God we serve and I know that the same God that has taken us on this incredible journey, through impossible odds, clearing the way that we could not see, will finish the work that He has started and he will never abandon us. 

God pulled Emma out of a horrible cycle of destruction, sin and death. God has a plan for her and we are excited about the future. Perhaps God will one day use Emma to go back and testify to the rest of her biological family.

Who knows.

But I do know that God has promised the inheritance of salvation to our children and we are standing on the promise that Emma's life will be a testimony to her Loving Savior and that she will always be a beautiful vessel in the Master's kingdom.