LIMA — Even though her six children are grown and out of the house, Terri’s heart is so big she cannot pass up helping a child even if it means she struggles.
When Terri learned about a woman named Lori who was addicted to heroin and pregnant but did not want to keep the baby, she stepped in. Within two days of Lori giving birth to Tony, he was living with Terri.
That was four years ago and today Terri is Tony’s mother.
But raising a child on her own has been a tough task. Terri is out of work and living on subsidized housing and food stamps. She barely has anything.
To make matters worse, Terri’s house was broken into when she was away looking after her sick mother.
Tony’s television was stolen, as was another television in the house, her security deposit for an apartment and other belongings.
Tony loved watching cartoons but Terri had to make the hard decision to sell her only remaining television to put a security deposit down on the apartment where they just moved into.
Since that time, Terri’s daughter, Holly, has let her mother borrow a television so Tony can watch cartoons.
Terri has no money to buy presents for Tony and starts to cry when asked about it.
“It’s hard. He’s just a loving boy. It hurts his feelings,” Terri said.
When Tony wants something and asks Terri, it breaks her heart to tell him he cannot have it.
“I tell him I can’t get it now. Maybe later,” she said. “I can’t get what I can’t afford. I try to get what I can get for him.”
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
