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SALT LAKE CITY — Heading to a baseball game is normally something kids do with their parents. Ray and Nichole are there without parents. The siblings were welcomed by the Salt Lake Bees baseball team to spend some time at the ballpark before the game.
Ray is a 12-year-old who loves baseball. His sister, 14-year-old Nichole, is more interested in make-up than sports, but she loves her brother and will do anything she can to support him. On Wednesday, that meant cheering him on during batting practice.
"When I'm bored, I can go into her room," Ray said. "I can just talk to her about things, and she always makes me feel better."
Ray and Nichole only have each other. "When (Department of Child and Family Service) came, I thought we were just going to an event," Ray said. "I thought we were just going to be there for a couple days, and then I realized we were in foster care and we kept switching houses over and over again, and I don't want that to happen."
It’s easier for Ray to talk about being in foster care than it is for Nichole. It's a topic she dreads talking about. The siblings have lived in state custody for three years now, long enough to make any kid want to give up.
"I feel like I knew it would be a long time (in foster care.) I honestly don't think we're going to find a home," Nichole said. "I just feel like it's not in the cards for us."
The brother and sister are determined to stay together no matter what. "We were separated for a while, and I just had no one to talk to," Ray said.
Life in foster care may be hard, but a life without each other? "It would be torture," Ray said.
These siblings are in need of a forever family. "We need someone who is caring and loving," Ray said.
They are two children holding on to hope someone is out there. "People just don't know there are kids like me and Nichole out there that don't have a family," Ray said.
For now, Nichole and Ray are a family and they're doing their best to hang on to the only thing they do have, each other.
To learn more about Ray and Nichole, contact The Utah Adoption Exchange at 801-265-0444.
