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He was not born to us, we parted, but this child enriched our lives

To be a foster parent is not easy. Parting may be inevitable. But it teaches you the meaning of unconditional love.

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To be a foster parent is not easy, but it teaches you the meaning of unconditional love, says the writer.

To be a foster parent is not easy, but it teaches you the meaning of unconditional love, says the writer.

ST ILLUSTRATION: CEL GULAPA

Tan Kok Yang

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On a very sunny afternoon I stood in the basement of a mall, staring at a fountain, with a little boy 50 years younger. The age gap mattered not that day because the water held our attention. J was standing on an elevation in front of me and I had my arms around him and we were having some quality time together.

It was just the two of us; an opportunity to spend this one-on-one time with my foster son J had arisen. The sight and sound of flowing water had always been a source of joy and comfort for J, who was three years old, going on four. The overflowing dishes at the top of the fountain caught his attention. “There is so much water, right?”, he exclaimed, excitedly watching the thin glistening streams of overflowing water that he had grown to love so much.

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