Single mum adopts best friend's FIVE children after they lose both parents in 6 months

ulie Jones describes the day her best friend died as 'the worst day of my life'. But she didn't have time to grieve. The single mum-of-three had agreed to adopt Caroline Atkin's three boys and two girls who had been orphaned by the loss of both their parents within six months of each other. Caroline was given 12 months to live when she was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in April 2009.

ragically, her husband, David, 44, died suddenly from a brain haemorrhage just nine months later in January 2010. When an increasingly ill Caroline, 45, was left worrying about what would happen to her children when she too passed away, she asked Julie if she would care for her children - an agreement they dubbed their 'Plan B'. Caroline passed away a few months later in June, and Julie kept to her word and took all five children into her home - putting the three boys in a tent in the garden until she could get her house re-organised and turning her dining room into an extra bedroom.

Source Article

I thought I would share this story to remind myself and others that this world is populated by some amazing people.. Some who actually keep their word and love without condition.

This wonderful lady is doing all of this by herself and without help from the state.

If anyone deserves state handouts it is her.

I hope they thrive together as a family, and I pray the kids hurt at losing both of their parents soo young is covered by the love of their wonderful new mom

[color=deepskyblue]Those poor children

It's an amazing thing this woman is doing for them...

reply to post by EvanB


Julie Jones is truly a hero!....Those children are blessed....because of her and her commitment to their Mother...and them...they get to stay together and still be a family. What a wonderful story of love and friendship.

reply to post by EvanB


Fair play to her. I was reading this today in the paper and have to be honest, when i first saw it i was thinking wow, that is something special. Then i read she already has 3 of her own kids. That just makes her an even more amazing woman in my eyes. Imagine trying to raise 8 kids on your own!

Wow

What an amazing Woman.

I hope her Love and support helps those children through such a terrible time.

She seems like a real life Guardian Angel.

Love

Elf

I think it's great too. But as she says, it was the normal thing to do. I don't understand who wouldn't do this for a best friend.

I know there are some people who even abandon their own kids but that's a rare thing. What this woman has done though, isn't it just common sense, and the right thing to do? Wouldn't you just do that too if the same situation cropped up in your life?

I hope folk think this is a great story because that kind of thing rarely has to be done, and not because most people would turn their backs and she's a rarity.

I hope this post makes sense, lol.

reply to post by EvanB


What a wonderful woman. The world needs many, many more like her. If we had more like her, I guarantee, it would be the sh*tpot it is now.

I have to be honest, I don't see this as amazing. The amazing thing is that people think she's a hero.

No, she's a normal human being, doing the best she can. I mean, what would you do for your best friend's/ sibling's kids? Watch them get split up in foster homes, in different towns and different schools?

Newsworthy? Sure (local news only).

She's some kind of incredible hero? For doing the obvious, decent thing? That reaction kinda makes me sad.

reply to post by MichaelYoung


Makes me sad too

That you cannot see the mark of an amazing woman who has given everything she is for her freind.

That kind of love should be celebrated and encouraged in this world. Even though the economcs andd everything else is against her she still come through for her dead mates kids

Did not cost you anything either!

Though it should.. This woman deserves our help..

this is the sort of news i want to read, amazing human kindness shown by the lady,those children should grow up just fine

love and peace

reply to post by wigit


Some people are all talk, she obviously is not!


It may be the obvious thing to do, but if most are able to ju offloading their own parents, then trusting them with your kids may stretch that trust

Also, when was the last time you heard of someting like this?

Did they step up?

Thought not

What a wonderful thing for her to do! We definitely need more people like that in the world (especially now).
I feel really bad for the kids. I mean, losing two parents in such a short time must be traumatizing. They're very lucky to have such a good person in their lives - someone who steps up and does the right thing.

I just hope that she'll actually be able to care for them. I mean, obviously she'll be able to care for them emotionally and mentally... but children are extremely expensive. Does she have the money to adequately care for 8 children?

After all, being a single mother having to care for 8 children is going to be difficult - So I really hope she'll be able to get all the help and resources she needs.

reply to post by xFloggingMaryx


The government wont help her.

She is doing it all by herself!

reply to post by EvanB


I have heard of it. My grandparents brought up a boy to manhood who was no relative of theirs at all. Not even sure where he came from, there was no official adoption, they just had him from the war years, he had nobody else, and looked after him till he made a life of his own. That should be the norm.

I didn't say they lady shouldn't be acknowledged for her huge effort, just that we should treat it as normal and not something unusual. If it was unusual to have such sacrifice the world would be a sadder place.

What is surprising is that "officialdom" hasn't removed those children (for whatever stupid reasons they do those things) in order to give them "proper" care.

reply to post by wigit


Hmmn

You are right

Just hope that the publicity dose not split them up

Quite an uplifting story~
This should be the norm... unfortunately it's not.

But I hope that if she is not a multi-millionaire, that she will get some help from others with expenses.
Gosh, 8 kids as a single mom... I can't say that I'm not concerned about her financially.

I'm certain others would agree with me, as I have 2 myself, that kids aren't always easy on the wallet.

Originally posted by EvanB
reply to post by xFloggingMaryx

 

The government wont help her.

She is doing it all by herself!

This woman did a good thing.This way these children will not be separated and spread out over foster and childrens homes. But she was offered government funded help which she refused. She asked if they could built her a extended area to her house in order to have enough room like sleeping arrangements for the children. Which got denied with the response was that they have counsel housing that provides the necessary space for everyone and receive benefits for each child.

Which seems fair enough.The institute already has the means setup so they are not prepared to use their budget to renovate her house for her to accommodate for it.I understand that she would rather not move to another home but she must have known before or while she decided to take the children that she might need to move to a more apropriate home.

To summarize,a proper solution has been offered which she declined because she did not want to move out.Which i can respect but i do not think it is very fair to say that she did not get any help just because they declined to build a extension to her current home.

Truly heart warming post. Her kindness will be repaid with love and joy from those children. I'll say a prayer for her and those kids. If only adoption was as simple here in the U.S., in this country youre basically shopping for kids and it could cost as much as 50,000 dollars to adopt even one child (court fees, lawyer fees, the mothers hosptial bills etc.). My wife and i are trying to adopt and its a money issue, the lines are so long...some couples wait for several years.

reply to post by Rafe_


Why should she have the house she bought herself??? And land??

She wanted to pay for an extension on her own property that she bought..

The stupid council refused planning permission on work on her own house and land for bedrooms for the kids

All work paid for by HER!

BS or what!!?

Worthy of an Extreme makeover home edition.Nothing overly incredible though is it?
Lets not forget she will be getting lots of extra cash from now on!