How do you know?

How do you know when you are growing up?

What lets you know you are maturing?

Is it the birthdays coming year by year...

Or is it...

Learning to ride a bike...

The first day of school...

or learning to read?

Is it when Mom lets you stay up an hour longer with the grown-ups when the little ones have to go to bed?

Is it that first after school job of raking the neighbor's leaves...

or graduating from 8th grade...

or the first day of high school?

The milestones met one by one...

Should make you feel more and more grown up!

But what would happen if you were deprived of the opportunity to meet these common milestones?

What would happen if you sat in a crib day after day...

Long after you had outgrown it?

What if you had no opportunity to even start school...

[Because your LEGS (not your mind) didn't work right!]

When you should be finishing 8th grade...

Or starting high school?

Would you feel that same sense of "growing up?"

If your birthdays were unnoticed...

Each day passing with monotony and sameness...

With nothing to occupy your mind or engage your curiosity...

No new responsibilities to challenge you and make you feel grown up...

What would that be like?

Instead of looking forward to your 16th birthday in a couple years...

When you could get your driver's license...

Your16th  birthday would be a day to look forward to with dread...

It would be the end of hope for you...

No more chance or opportunity to have a family...

To get an education...

Or a job when you grew up?

Can you imagine?

I can't...

Sweet, intelligent Emmitt is in this situation!

Today is his Birthday...

He's 14 today!

He's been waiting far too long...

I don't know what learning opportunities he may have had as a young child in a baby house...

But he has now been in a mental institution (because his LEGS don't work well!) for many years...

Deprived of a loving family...

Deprived of education...

Deprived of therapy...

Deprived of the opportunity to meet those milestones...

That would make him feel grown up!

At 14 years old...

He should be looking forward to starting high school soon...

But instead he sits in a baby's bed...

Waiting for someone to see his potential...

And get him out of there!

And give him the opportunity to grow into a man...

Is there any way you could be his Mom or Dad?

If not, could you share his story...

Pray for him...

And add even a few dollars to his grant fund?

In two years dear Emmitt will be too old to be adopted...

Without hope of release from the institution...

Without hope of a life of opportunity...

In bed for the rest of his life...

Let's not let that happen!

To read more about Emmitt or donate to his grant fund click Here!

This post is a part of the Forget Me Not Friday Linkup organized by Jane!

Please check it out here! And consider linking up a post of your own!

Her post this week can be found  Here !