By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
Three-year-old Sage AnnaLee Balser of Union celebrated a day this week that officially changed her whole life. And the lives of her new family,
Casey Balser, now her legal mom, remembered when Sage came into her life as a foster child when she was just 15 months old, and only weighed 15 pounds.
“She was so tiny!” she said. “I remember when we got her, she had a bottle, duct taped because it leaked, and I don’t know if it had apple juice or sweet tea in it, and an empty backpack.. She was in a dirty onesie. Before I did anything, I had to put her in the car and go out to Target. We got her about $500 in clothes and toys, but since I bought the clothes in size 12 months, they were too big, and I had to take them all back and get 6 to 9 month clothes.”
Casey was working for Necco, where she still works, a private adoption agency, and they were contracted to the state to take children. Casey and her husband, Jason, were authorized as foster parents.
Casey said the agency called her about 11 a.m. and by 3 or 4 p.m .Sage was at their house. To top it off, Casey was four months pregnant herself. But as she told her husband, she just had a good feeling about this placement.
“Sage was timid at first, especially with my husband, but within two weeks she was comfortable with everyone, even my 13-year-old son, Jack,” she said. “She did seem to have food insecurity. She would eat and eat at first, and then she would throw up in her crib. That eventually went away, when she realized more meals were coming.”
Casey also said Sage would sleep for 12 hours, and when she would wake her up to take her to daycare, she would fall asleep in the car and take two naps during the day, and then be ready for bed at 6:30 at night.
“We figured she was recovering from trauma,” Casey explained. “Not trauma where she was abused, but where she hadn’t felt safe enough to rest and grow. She is so different now; she is thriving, and she is so smart.”
Casey had found out that Sage had been born at 35 weeks, weighing just over 5 pounds, so she was a preemie, and during the time they had her, she had some speech problems due to untreated ear infections. Casey said she appreciates Sage’s birth mom, and realizes she wasn’t in the right space to be a mom for Sage.
But now Sage is a happy, healthy three-year-old, who loves to play with her little brother, Jase, loves to jump on their small sized trampoline, takes tumbling and dance classes, laughs a lot and sees the joy in every day.
Casey said Sage will always have two mommies.
Casey and her husband had been fostering off and on during their time with Necco, and they started by saying they would take teens with babies, but their first placement was two brothers, a six-month-old and a 9-year-old, who were part of a sibling group of seven, and their second placement was Sage.
“When the kids are older I would like to take teenagers, but now we are at capacity,” Casey explained. “I would love to see more people see what foster care is about. If they don’t think they can be full foster parents, they could just be on call for respite care, such as when the regular foster parents go on a trip, or if they just want to go out to eat dinner without the children. There are a lot of ways they can help.”
She said that people can contact Necco.org, or contact the Cabinet for Children and Family services in Frankfort. The training for being a foster parent can be adapted to anyone’s schedule.
“There are so many children who need foster homes,” she said “All kids deserve a home and a caregiver. There is always a way to help.”
Last Wednesday was Sage’s day.
Dressed in a pretty dress and some favorite shoes, the little girl clung to Casey at first, knowing she was in a strange environment, but she looked around curiously, seeing familiar faces and gathering her confidence. When Judge Jennifer Dusing pronounced the words, Sage understood the language of all the smiles, and in a short time it was over.
Tears of happiness flowed, and hugs were everywhere.
“Sage didn’t have much to say,” Casey said with a laugh. “All she said during the entire adoption was, ‘I want to eat!’
Even though it was only a very short time, Casey knows Sage will look back on the day and know it was a very important moment in her life.
“She is ours, and we are hers,” Casey said. “It was the right fit. It is the best feeling in the world.”