This woman has looked after more than 80 children in the past 34 years - she has been the grandmother they needed
Not all women are able to have children and not all choose to have them in their lifetime. Linda Owens, however, is part of that category of women that she has chosen to care for so many, precisely because she knows she cannot have them on her own. Linda is a 78-year-old lady, very kind and sensitive, who for 34 long years has taken care of 80 newborn children, in need of and looking for an adoptive family. Linda is their foster mom for their first few months of life, until the adoption process is concluded. Today, Linda's eldest "son" is 37 years old, while the youngest is only a few months old and is the latest child that the woman is dedicating herself to: she is officially the 81st child she is taking care of!
via Youtube / KPIX CBS SF Bay Area
Youtube / KPIX CBS SF Bay Area
"It's a demanding job, but also very rewarding," Linda told the cameras, adding: "What I do is a bit of a gift from God." Despite her advanced age, Linda has no intention of quitting; hers is a real mission, she is well aware that those children need her help and she will certainly not hold back. The pediatrician she brings all the children to, Dr. Mika Hiramatsu, describes her as an optimistic and determined woman, eager to offer these little children the best life possible.
Youtube / KPIX CBS SF Bay Area
By now Linda has truly accumulated a great deal of experience in looking after little ones and can also dispense useful advice to future parents. One mother, in particular, named Erica, remembers how Linda thoughtfully advised her never to interrupt the little girl's sleep that they would be adopting: "I know you can't wait to pick her up and cuddle her, but it's better not to wake her up. Leave her in her crib. " Today Erica and her daughter still go to visit "grandma" Linda when they can and they always thank her for the splendid work she has done.
Youtube / KPIX CBS SF Bay Area
Linda, for her part, is very happy to be able to continue to have a relationship with the children she has raised and cared for. Even if her seems like a "job" (to be honest, it's more of a vocation!) to which she shuld be used to, she always suffers a little every time she is forced to separate from one of her children. Of course, she is well aware and happy that they have found a loving family willing to adopt them. As she always says: "It is a demanding job, but very rewarding!".
There are often grandparents who are "exploited" as babysitters and others who can't wait to spend time with their grandchildren; and then there are big-hearted people, like Linda, who take care of all those children who, without them, would be left behind and forgotten.
