By Susan Ciancio
It has been said that love doesn’t know how to divide, it knows only how to multiply. Nowhere is that more evident than in the home of Kathleen and Ron Paydo.
Kathleen and Ron have been foster parents for most of their 35 years of marriage, and in addition to raising four children of their own, they have now fostered over 200 children. Throughout those years, they have seen atrocities that most people cannot even imagine, but the love and joy they have brought to children and their families is immeasurable.
Beginnings
When Kathleen was a young girl, her parents took her to see the play Annie. The character of Miss Hannigan left such an impression on her that when they walked out of the theater, she told her father she wanted to someday open her own orphanage so that she could take proper care of the children who had no one to care for them.
As Kathleen grew into adulthood, this compassion for children remained. When she realized that orphanages are mostly a thing of the past in the US, she turned her sights to the foster-care system. After she and Ron married, she asked him what he thought about becoming foster parents, and he readily agreed. So before they even had children of their own, they began opening their home to children in need.
While some families foster children to eventually adopt them, the Paydos foster children in the hopes of either helping biological families reunite or finding children forever homes. Their goal is to strengthen families and to give them the tools necessary to reunify.
To read the remainder of this article, visit the Celebrate Life Magazine site at clmagazine.org/topic/adoption/fostering-love-and-compassion.