LIMA — John hadn’t heard from his children for days, and he was growing concerned.
It wasn’t uncommon for his ex-girlfriend, who had primary custody of their five-year-old son and daughter at the time, to skip John’s weekend with the kids. But John (not his real name) grew worried as more time went by, with still no word from his children.
He eventually got in touch with his ex-girlfriend’s mother, who hadn’t heard from her daughter or grandkids for days either.
“She called me back and was like, ‘Well (John), I got good news and bad news. I found the kids. The bad news is, they’re in foster care,’” John recalled.
After battling with children’s services for several days, John took his kids back. He soon learned their mother had been abusing drugs — drifting from hotel room to hotel room, often leaving the kids in a car or bringing them along to “grown folks parties,” as he described the situation to The Lima News.
His kids had few belongings. They arrived at John’s home in dollar store flip flops, wearing ill-fitting clothes that had unlikely been washed for days.
They had no toys or basic necessities.
John and his current girlfriend bought the kids what they could: new shoes, hygeine products and enough clothes to send the kids to school. They even bought a small Christmas tree, hoping to make this year feel special in what John said is the kids’ first real Christmas.
But that may not happen, as John is on disability and his girlfriend relies on restaurant tips to pay rent.
“I just want them to have a nice Christmas that they didn’t never had,” John said. “But I can’t give them that Christmas because I’ve got so much stuff going on with me. I got car insurance and trying to keep gas in the car for them to get back and forth to school.”
The family has many needs: Clothes for the kids, one boy, one girl, who both wear size 12 pants and large shirts; winter boots, size 12; and educational toys.
“I’m getting through it,” he said. “I just needed a little help to show them that just because you weren’t going to have Christmas with mommy, doesn’t mean you won’t have Christmas with daddy.”
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