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Former foster child beat the odds By Jeff Adair / Staff Writer
Twelve years ago, he was an angry child who trusted no one. He had been let down by his birth parents. He had been let down by several foster parents. The system? It failed him - big time. Life was nothing but trouble until Mary Beth Carmody came along and adopted the 11 1/2-year-old, scrawny 49 pound boy with dreams of being a doctor or therapist. Last Sunday, WBZ-TV anchor Jack Williams, founder of "Wednesday's Child," told Carmody's story to hundreds at the commencement in Milton. "It was overpowering," said Luis, recalling the event. "I was so excited, it made me jittery ... All I kept thinking about was that the man who helped me get a family is going to give me my diploma." "A lot of my classmates didn't know (my story)," he said. "They were like, 'Oh my God, that's you.' " "Did that really happen to you?" some asked. It was a bit embarrassing, he admits, but it was nice because it shows that former foster kids can make it, they can succeed in life. Luis, who received a bachelor's degree in psychology and communications, is unsure of his next move but, with a degree in hand, is ready to face the future. He dreams of heading to California and making it as a actor. He may continue his education and combine his love of theater and psychology and get a master's in drama therapy. Currently, he's looking for something locally in human services. "I love helping people," he says. "I can help change lives for the good. I love working with foster kids ... to show them that there is a light at the end of the dark tunnel." Luis, 23, who was born to a teen-age mother and a drug-addicted father, about 6 1/2 when he was taken into custody by the Department of Social Services. He and his then-four siblings were placed in separate foster homes. Half Puerto Rican and with a surname of Angel, he was placed in Spanish-speaking foster homes. He didn't know the language. He lived - "stuck" - as he puts it, in six foster homes over seven years. He spent time in Chelsea, Lynn, Cambridge and Stoughton, and the child assessment unit of a Cambridge hospital. One home in Lynn had 14 foster children. They "were more interested in dollar bills" than caring for the children, he said. He was malnourished. He fell behind in school. He had many emotional scares. He missed his sisters and brothers. Later, he would gain regular contact with them. Luis recalls his appearance on Wednesday's Child. Williams asked him about his interests. "My best subjects are math and gym," Luis, then Angel, said in the segment, aired Feb. 12, 1992. "I ain't very good at reading." "I remember being very nervous," he said in an interview this week. "He was a big guy ... We were at the fire station. I sat on the truck and we started talking. I started to relax." Mary Beth Carmody, a single woman and an attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston, had consider adoption, and ironically, had seen a picture of Luis and his sister three years before, featured in book of kids needing a family. She contacted officials and within nine months Luis became her son. Luis put his new mom through many tests before realizing that she was in it for the long haul. "I did crazy things as a kid," he said. "I'd break the dishes on purpose to see her reaction ...I did some really horrible things." "I wanted someone to listen to me," said Luis. "My mom would listen. She'd do things I liked to do." Mary Beth taught her son to control his anger. She taught him that education is the key to success. She told him she would support him no matter what, but it was up to him to choose to do the right thing. "She's one of the calmest people in the world," he says. "My mom is my biggest fan. She's my hero." Luis, who has spoken about foster care and adoption to audiences across the state, last summer worked as an intern in Washington D.C. as part of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. He has run into Williams many times since that TV interview. He thinks the world of the man who had done Wednesday's Child for 23 years. "He's done so much, not only for
Massachusetts but for children elsewhere. (Wednesday's Child) started
in Boston but has spread out to other states," he said. |
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