Lillian

I run into Lillian and her hoard periodically, most often at the grocery store. We met through Izzy years ago, where she would come with all her kids to get food. They would pile out of her car like some kind of magic trick, but were all smiles and some incredible beauty.

Lillian has had a hard life. She's suffered lots of abuse from her dad, then from husbands and boyfriends. She now has 7 kids. She didn't get very far in school, but is real ingenious in taking care of her kids. She gets disability checks on a couple of them and had some child support for a few others until that ex got himself killed. When I first met her, she was living in a two bedroom house with all 6 kids, but it was her's. She told me she bought it for 10 grand and it came with two lots. Now she lives next door and rents out the first house, which pays for her payment in her current home. Once I came by and she showed me her newest investment- a pregnant dog. Each pup would get her a hundred or more dollars.

I had taken a few pictures of her and her newest baby, and dropped them off when she wasn't home, but she said she never got them, so I made reprints and took them over today. A teenager was out front on a bike, with baggy pants, talking on a phone. I kept staring at him, thinking he looked a lot like Peter, one of the older kids- but how could that be- this kid is too old.

He told me his mom wasn't in and I asked if he was Peter- he was. I was floored. Has it been that long? The children we used to see so regularly have grown and life moves on.

But what struck me was how beautiful, confident and friendly the older kids were (the only ones home). They remembered my name, looked me in the eyes, chatted some and waved as I left.

A lot of people have thought and wanted Lillian to lose her kids to the system. She's not had a lot of resources and I'm sure they've been exposed to lots that they should not have been, but one thing they have had was a mother's love. I was real proud of her today. She has done well.