Mel Of Bacchus

My most memorable vacay to date was the one I went on with my foster family when I was 15 years old.

You see, usually what happens when you’re in foster care is that your foster family will plan a holiday with their family and your FSO (Family Service Officer) will come over one afternoon sometimes a couple of days before or on the day of their trip to let you know that you’ll be going into “Respite”.

Respite was a when you left one foster family for another foster family when they needed a “break” whether that be a holiday or just a weekend without you.

This happened to me many times while I was in care and while I was left to navigate myself and often time my brother (whom was also in foster care with me) through all the rules of a new foster home, it’s expectations of us and its family dynamics, we had to hear and see all the wonderful photos and stories of our OG foster family’s trips without us when we got “home”.

But when my second last foster placement, The Biddels (Mother, father, 3 teenage daughters and a son my age) planned their holiday away, they didn’t hide anything and I was actually invited to go too.

We road tripped it and stayed at an old Nunnery in Yeppoon near Rockhampton.

I remember the family whom hosted us being very warm and kind people and being shown around this huge house with two wings each side of just rooms and rooms. I remember it had a beautiful church space with stained glass windows.

I shared a room with my roomy from back “home” and best friend Kelvene whom was also staying with this foster family as a boarder not as a foster child as such and was also invited to come too.

Because we were roomies while staying with The Biddells we became very close friends and to this day, 22 years later we are still friends with her naming her daughter after me two years ago!

More on that another day..

So my most fond memories from this trip was time spent at the beach with our foster parents and their 4 children, my best friend and their eldest daughters boyfriend Nick at the time.

But the best memory of the trip is when we went “Cow Counting” in Rockhampton and when we took a ferry over to Great Keppel Island.

We went in a glass bottom boat and I experienced the great barrier reef for the first time. We also saw seals and tropical fish. It was a moment I will never forget and will cherish always.

While on this trip I also spent some one-on-one time with my foster mother Sabine and it was a turning point in our friendship/relationship. I was pretty tough teen and she was a pretty firm Mum! She gave me a CD for my discman which was the Eleventh Hour Jars of Clay album, my first Christian CD and I was able to open up about a lot of things I’d been holding in.

My foster mother prayed for me and for the first time as a foster child, I actually felt part of a family. Included. Loved.