BIANCA'S STORY

by Julie Jordan Scott

When Ken and I first married, we lived separately: I was in Phoenix and he was in law school in Los Angeles. After six months I was transferred back to Los Angeles and I told Ken to find us the "perfect apartment" which to me meant high ceilings, crown moldings, hardwood floors...you get the picture! I wanted unique and older, no "cookie cutter, new building" for me!

So Ken finds this dream place at a ridiculously low rent. To this day I know God put us there. Shortly after we moved in I started hearing a woman yelling at a child morning after morning. She was in the building next door which was a building of studio apartments with Murphy Beds which folded down from the wall and a kitchen and bath.... many apartments crammed large families into this small space...most of the time Spanish music blared from that building but the mornings were accentuated with this Mom yelling at this unseen child. I figured out when the yelling stopped and knew she must leave for school then so I headed out the door so I could figure out who it was! Sure enough the Mom was still flapping her jaw so I could see who this twosome was!

I still remember the first time I set eyes on Bianca. She had her hair pulled back into a severe braid, long down her back. She stared straight ahead as her mother talked. She was a little waif of a thing, translucent skin, wearing a white turtleneck and jeans. I found out this was her usual dress, rarely anything different.

After that I would see that face peering out her window from our driveway. She would watch the people in our building as we parked our cars. "HI!" we would say. I would walk out on my balcony and pray long and hard for someone to help this little girl. What I did not know is I would be this someone! At one point I called Protective Services after I heard Bianca's Mom hit her. This was before I knew them. I had figured out what apartment they were in, and I knew their schedule. But Social Services did not do anything. I knew my best offense would be to protect the little girl by befriending the Mom and offering support. I continued to pray.

One day as I saw them coming down the street I prayed and prayed and prayed to have the courage to say and do the right thing. I still do not know how or what happened believe it was the Holy Spirit that propelled me, but I found myself with my hand out to Bianca's Mom and was offering to baby-sit or just be a friend to them.

Now the neighborhood we were in was almost like the barrio. Very multiethnic (which I loved!) Bianca's Mom was very racist and did not like to be situated with other "non-white" people, so she was thrilled to find an Anglo friend. She immediately trusted in me, which is good, because I could be closer to Bianca that way.

Bianca's Mom was just going back to work at the time. So I was there at the perfect time! (Another example of God's working!) Ken was in law school; I worked in outside sales on college campuses, so my hours were like a teacher's hours. I could meet Bianca's school bus if necessary and bring her home with me. Weekends she spent almost exclusively with me at my apartment and at the park, etc. She became a regular figure at family events. She quickly blended into Ken's and my extended family even before she lived with us.

We moved to Kern County after Ken graduated from Law School and moved away from Bianca and her Mom, but Bianca still spent weekends occasionally and Christmas vacation with us. She even vacationed to the Grand Canyon and New Mexico with us! We had our share of tragedy that year when our very planned very loved little baby was still born in February of 1990. I was still reeling when Bianca's Mom called in March to say that the school had called and they were planning to call Social Services. Apparently Bianca finally broke down crying to her teacher about what was going on at home. Bianca's Mom was saying she was going to send Bianca to Texas to be with her grandma (who Bianca had never met!) I know she was hoping I would offer to take her in, and naturally Ken and I did!

We told her we would take her and enroll her in school, and then she could return to her mom in the fall! Well, we enrolled Bianca and changed our lives completely. I still remember grieving horribly yet having this terrifically needy kid in our home. She was a delight though and we were always so very close. We went through a lot those first few months: bouts of asthma, lice, growth spurts...and then we moved to Bakersfield, a little bit north of Frazier Park where we had been. The Fall came and her mom did not take her back.

Then it was a year since we had her move in and a little later I was pregnant again. Before and shortly after Kathie's birth were some of the bleaker times for us. Bianca was very nervous that we were going to do away with her once Kathie came along!

Also, in November of 1991, right before Kathie was born, Bianca's Mom moved to Las Vegas. After that, Bianca only saw her four more times. The last time Bianca went for a week when she was in seventh grade. I think she had created a fantasy mom but instead found a mom who lived in a motel who would leave Bianca alone there for hours with no food or money. Since then, the only communication from her Mother has been to say to us that she never wants to hear from us again. Ever.

This has not been a bed of roses by any means. But as we have grown as a family, and now with Emma our family is cemented, we have seen the Lord very much at work throughout all of this. Bianca was NOT thrilled that we were pregnant AGAIN with Emma, but when they met when Emma was hours old it was love at first sight! Emma cries when Bianca leaves in the morning. It is amazing how our littlest one has shown Bianca another example of unconditional love.

So it goes back to the beginning. I prayed to my Heavenly Father to please protect that little girl, Lord. Please find a way. Well, He did! And that way was my family! It has been almost nine years and Miss Bianca will be 18 in September. She will graduate from East Bakersfield High School in June of 2000. I will be the one crying my eyes out in the bleachers. Bianca has been a great and precious gift to us as well! What an honor and privilege to have this glorious young woman as a part of our family! We are truly, truly blessed!