[ Growing Up In Foster Care ]
[ Felt Like Going To The Dinner Table ]
[ & You Didn’t Have A Designated Chair ]

[ You Always Felt Wrong ]
[ Because You Felt Like You Were A Tag Along ]

[ You Grew Up Feeling So Alone ]
[ You Couldn’t Call Anybody ]
[ Because You Never Could Get A Dial Tone ]

[ You Found Out Late In Life That You Were Not Planned ]
[ By The Only Man ]

[ That Mattered In Your Life Growing Up ]
[ As You Grew, You Were Only Handed A Paper Cup ]

[ You Could Never Get A Glass ]
[ Even When You Asked ]

[ You Grew Up Yearning For Any Of His Attention ]
[ He Also Gave You The Same Amount Of Affection ]

[ You Did Not Grow Up Feeling He Was Your Hero ]
[ Because The Affection, Attention & Direction Was Zero ]

[ You Never Had Dreams When You Slept ]
[ He Gave You Zero Comforting When You Wept ]

[ You Were The (AND ONE)  In The Adoption Deal ]
[ He Probably Dreaded The Thought That You Were Just
     Another Meal ]

[ Another Mouth To Be Fed ]
[ Clear Out A Room & See The Need To Buy Another Bed ]

[ You Were Treated As An Outcast ]
[ He Saw That You Had So Much Emotional Baggage From
     Your Past ]

[ He Knew That Your Biological Father Was Dead ]
[ He Never Helped With The Nightmares ]
[ Of Seeing Your Father Shoot Himself In The Head ]

[ He Never Helped Console ]
[ He Never Wanted A Son ]
[ So He Refused To Take On That Father Figure Role ]

[ When Do Foster Kids Ever Get To Have Good Dreams? ]
[ Why Didn’t He Ever Help With The Screams? ]

[ Do They Go Away When They Legally Adopt & Let You Know? ]
[ You Would Think So … ]
[ But The Answer Is (NO) ]

[ Why Did Barbara Give You That Hurtful Piece Of Information? ]
[ Your Wife Put All Of The Pieces Together ]
[ Because That Was For Confirmation ]

[ All Of Those (18) Years When You Yearned For Approval ]
[ All He Wanted Was The Removal ]

[ Of The Boy He Never Wanted ]

[ You Stung Him Later In Life ]
[ When You Dropped His Last Name From Your Family ]
[ & Replaced It With The Maiden Name Of Your Wife ]

[ Now My Father-In Law, Is A Real Father ]
[ He Accepts You As A Son ]
[ He Has Taken On The Role That To You  Thought Was Such
     A Bother ]

[ It Is Really Sad ]
[ & You Hoped It Made Him Really Mad ]
[ That You Truly, Respectfully, Now Call Gary DeVoe, Dad! ]

[ Now That Has A Good Sound To It ]
[ The Last Name You Grew Up With ]
[ Now Sounds Like S–t ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[  Mahalo E Ka hoa  ]
[  A hui hou  ]
[ Aloha  ]

[  Na  ]
[  Lopaka DeVoe  ]

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