Around midnight, a car pulls in my driveway. A social worker for the Foster Care System gets out & opens the door. He carries a terrified looking little girl & 3 plastic grocery bags inside the house and deposits all of them on my living room floor.

“Not sure what size she wears so I just grabbed what i could find. She’s 4 so I got size 4 diapers. I know nothing about kids. Sorry she doesn’t have any shoes, they were all too small for her.”

A four year old girl. 3 plastic bags. No shoes.

A few months later, I get a call about a teen that has a history of running away from foster homes. She comes in with a beautiful quilted black duffel bag filled to the brim with her most treasured possessions..ugg slippers, Bath and Body Works sprays and lotions, Nike hoodies.

“I love your bag!” I tell her “I have the same one in red!” I had bought mine at a

fancy fundraising night and a social worker had given hers to her before one of hermany moves.

On paper, we couldn’t look more different, but we found common ground in an

unlikely place..a My BAG MY STORY bag.

And the little four year old with the grocery bags? Well you better believe she left

my home a couple weeks later with her brand new MY BAG MY STORY backpack filled to the brim with princess pajamas, a beautiful winter coat, and 3 brand new pairs of shoes.