Barry Farmer was just a toddler when he and his sisters entered “Kinship care”. It’s like foster care except it’s the relatives who take charge when the parents can’t.

Little Barry never settled in to one home, constantly moving, before living with an aunt for a time. Eventually, he moved into a foster home.

That didn’t stop him from becoming a wonderful father to three boys.

Barry was just four when he moved in with his grandmother. A woman he just met. It was in his grandmother’s neighborhood that Barry made good friends, went to a good school, and a sense of community.

He may have lost his parents but the experience with his grandmother was what inspired him to become a good man and a better father.

When he turned 20, Barry applied to become a foster parent. Good thing the director of programs took on a chance on him considering his age. Barry received his license to be a foster parent.

Barry’s first case was a boy who was about 16. They moved into his home in Richmond, Virginia, but six months later, that boy moved out. Then Barry met Jaxon.

Barry and the agency were surprised upon learning that Jaxon was white. Barry had never worked with white children so he wasn’t sure how to go about it.

“This child, in my head, is Black,” he recalled. “When I got there, he was just the whitest white child that I ever worked with … I thought, ‘Wow this is going to be interesting.’ Because I have no clue what I am doing.”

Barry eventually saw that Jaxon wasn’t going to be a problem.

“He was so loving and caring,” he said. “He just wanted some hugs and to call me dad.”

Barry and Jaxon bonded so much that when the boy moved out to be with his adoptive family, he found his way back to Barry. There was nothing else to do but to make it permanent.

Barry was only 22 but the social workers knew that Jaxon would be in excellent hands.

Jaxon had one request. A little brother.

Barry had no plans of adopting another child but when he saw Xavier, he knew that this kid was the one.

Then he took in 4-year-old Jeremiah, expanding his family of boys. Jaxon and Xavier welcomed Jeremiah with open arms. Barry adopted Jeremiah when he turned 5.

Barry encourages fostering or adoption.

“Becoming a foster parent was like a tribute to my grandmother because I could never pay her back, but I was definitely able to pay it forward,” he said.

Barry turned out to be an awesome father to Jaxon, Xavier, and Jeremiah. And like a bunch of boys always do, they go on road trips, hit up amusement parks, and visit new cities.

“Single parenting is not wrong. It is very doable with a village,” he said. “I would encourage people to not only becoming licensed foster parents but to become adoptive parents.”

Check out Barry’s story in the video below!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: YouTube, My Positive Outlooks