Hi folks! I'm back :-) I know you are wondering why I named my blog Journey of a Redwood. Well Redwood trees are one of the strongest and resilient trees found in nature. Fire, Termites, Rain, and well a few other things cannot destroy it. So in a metaphoric way i feel as though I can relate. On June 8, 2011 I turned 21 years old and my transition out of Foster Care really kicked in to full gear. For so much time before that I felt as though it would be a piece of cake. I mean hey I have my own 1 bedroom apartment, a new car, and a job...soo I'm good right? Not quite. Don't get me wrong all of these things are great but it takes a little more than that to make it on your own. So lets rewind two weeks before I'm about to "exit" care I get my last visit from my case worker. As she sits in my living room going over the checklist of things that should be accomplished before my exit from care it really hits me like..Wow, I'm really about to be out of foster care! As she goes down the list and makes checks she gets to the statement that says Supportive Adults/Permanency and stops. This was something that we had been working on for months because a year ago if you would have asked me whether or not I had permanency I would have said yes with no worries however it only takes a moment for things to change.My case worker turned to me and said I will always be here for you but you need someone else as well. So as she goes down a list of a few people to be apart of my permanency pact after discussion each one ends with a no because they were either there in the past and just stopped being there, or just wasn't there at all anymore. At that point I have never felt so hopeless because the people that I felt I needed to be there for me were not and if someone wants to be in your life they will be there no matter what. After some tears and going back and forth we didn't find anyone so that was one box that went unchecked... ...........To Be Continued (See Part II).........