WE ADOPTED A SILENT BOY — HIS FIRST WORDS A YEAR LATER SHATTERED EVERYTHING: “MY PARENTS AREN’T DEAD”

Bobby had been found as a baby near a foster home with a note claiming, “His parents are dead, and I’m not ready to care for the boy.” That was all anyone knew. Bobby didn’t speak to us at all. The foster care workers assured us he wasn’t mute, just withdrawn. “He talked to us,” one of them said. “Give him time.”

But after years of struggling with infertility, we saw him and knew – he was OUR SON.

So, we poured every ounce of love we had into him, hoping he’d feel safe enough to let us in. We read him bedtime stories, built pillow forts, and cheered him on during soccer practice.

When his sixth birthday approached, we decided to throw him a party—a small one, just us and a cake with his favorite dinosaurs on it. Maybe it was a little over-the-top, but we wanted him to feel special, loved, celebrated.

As we sang “Happy Birthday” and Bobby sat in front of his cake, something shocking happened. He looked up at us, his eyes shimmering, and said his first words since we’d met him:

“MY PARENTS ARE ALIVE ”