A Family for Me: Tiffany

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) -This is the story of a young lady that will make you smile.

Tiffany is like a lot of teenagers. She’s 16 years-old, loves school, loves to read…and is in foster care, patiently waiting for her “forever family."

Adoption Specialist Jen Miller has helped a lot of kids find families. But, when she spoke about Tiffany, it was obvious just how rare she believed she was.

“She’s just a really wonderful young lady,” Miller said as she teared up. “She’s an extraordinary girl. And she’s got a piece of my heart. As you can tell.”

Tiffany said she planned to make a career out of writing.

“I want to be an author when I grow up,” Tiffany said. “So, I want to get my degree in English and my minor in Creative Writing.

She said she hoped her creativity will help others deal with the challenges they face living in the system.

“I write poems,” Tiffany said. “I’m really good at writing poems. I write about my experiences and stuff. My experiences in foster care and what I’ve been through in my life so far. I hope my writing will help others in foster care cope.”

But, Tiffany has an added physical challenge she deals with every day.

“I have spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy,” Tiffany said. “It’s basically like, my brain doesn’t tell my legs what to do. It’s like my brain can’t correlate with my legs very well.”

But that doesn’t hold Tiffany back. In fact, she said she liked to do most things on her own.

“I can do stuff for myself. I want people to know that,” Tiffany said. “I’m totally independent and capable of doing stuff for myself. Sometimes I need help and, yes, it comes with challenges. But I like to do stuff for myself.”

Tiffany’s drive and determination have helped her overcome her physical challenges.

“It’s her spirit,” Miller said. “Her spirit is just amazing. To have dealt with the adversity that she has and still be so positive and powerful. It’s just amazing.”

Tiffany’s great attitude and hard work was contagious.

“I can’t help but feel,” Miller stopped and cried again. “She just deserves everything. And if I can help her get it, I want to. She’s not letting anything that’s happened to her distract her from what she wants.”

And what she wants is a family.

She said she hasn’t given up hope that there’s someone out there waiting to love her.

“Don’t give up,” Tiffany said. “Just keep going. That’s all you can do, really.”

If you are interested in adoption or foster care, you can visit this website for more information.

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