Recently, as many of you are aware, Anonymous Publications began to distribute an amazing children's book titled The Parade With the Drums.  It's an amazing book about activism written on a child's level.

Today, a question was asked about a picture of a child holding this incredible book.  Her picture has been used in at least two articles about the book but today, a question about a bump on the little cutey's forehead was raised and a comment was made as to whether or not the child in the picture is a victim of abuse.  This is the image of the child:  http://imgur.com/QFIObHp

At first I was pretty angry that one would make such an accusation when a small child has a bump on her head and I considered lashing out with a string of insults in response to the question.  Instead I thought I would tell the story about the little girl who adores her new book.

This tiny 7 year old bright-eyed beauty was born addicted to drugs (which drugs we'll never completely know for certain).  Her biological father, who suffered severe mental illness and drug addiction, used to give this little girl and her brother ice baths and to this day, neither child can take warm baths.  Both children were taken from the biological parents following an event in which the mother and father were in bed, high on drugs, and this little sweety at the age of 1 1/2 and her brother at the age of 2 1/2, wandered out of the house and down the street.  The girl rolled down an embankment and onto railroad tracks and if not for very observant neighbors, the baby surely could have been killed.  Both children were placed in the foster care system.

In less than one year, both children had been placed in 5 different foster homes where they suffered more abuse in at least one of those homes.  On December 9, 2009, the siblings were taken to their last foster home.  They arrived as frightened children, ages 2 and 3, with their entire world of belongings trailing behind them in one garbage bag.  The little girl had great difficulty walking and was unable to use her right arm.  This was due to drugs that she was exposed to while her biological mother was pregnant.  Her legs were covered in bruises from the multiple falls she suffered because of poor balance. The new foster parents who only fostered teens, had no idea what to do with these two little ones but something had to be done for a little girl who could barely speak and had such difficulty walking.  Off to work they went to find physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy for the little cutey who had captured their hearts.

Fast forward to April, 2010, the biological mother was given an overnight visit with the children in an attempt to reunite this family.  Biological mom was already pregnant with another child and still testing positive for drugs.  The children spent the night with their biological mother while the foster parents stayed up all night worried sick about the children.  The children were returned to the foster home the following day.  The story told by the little lady in the picture's brother goes as follows:  "my sissy wanted to come home last and she kept crying so mommy picked her up by her arm and threw her against the wall.  Sissy fell on the bed crying and mommy locked her in the room".  It was at that moment that the foster parents decided these children would never suffer abuses like this again.

On August 8, 2011, the foster parents became the forever parents of one little girl whose name is Libby and one little boy whose name is Zach. Biological mom has since produced two more children, each addicted to drugs and each taken from her by child protective services.

Fast forward again.  This time to March, 2012 when someone little Libby calls "brother" was arrested and jailed.  The most indescribable site that will never be forgotten is watching the children outside of the MCC in June, 2012, screaming for their brother.  "Jeremy!  Come home"!  And telling the Federal Marshall "Give me back my brother"!  Are they blood siblings to Jeremy? of course not but they don't care.

Last fast forward:  little Libby has been through a tremendous amount of abuse and neglect but today she is a strong, brave little girl with enough love in her heart for a hundred people.  When you have a child who had never had a birthday, who didn't even know about Santa Claus or a Christmas tree, each event becomes an amazing adventure.  To this little girl, a gift of a book from her brother Jeremy, means everything to her and she can read the book word for word and she treasures it as if it were gold.  To Libby, it's the book of a lifetime and something of her very own.  And to answer the question about the bump on her head, well, she's still clumsy but she is loved more than two adoptive parents could have ever imagined.

Libby can't say all of her words perfectly but she can say this:  "I love my brother Jeremy and I always will AND he's Nominous (that's Libby talk for Anonymous) lulz.