Tonight's show on Foster Care

Tonight on Realgoodwords (from 6-7pm, CST - rebroadcast Sunday morning from 9-10 am) we're talking with Andrew Bridge about his memoir, "Hope's Boy". Andrew grew up in the foster care system in Los Angeles.

From the moment he was born, Andrew Bridge and his mother Hope shared a love so deep that it felt like nothing else mattered. Trapped in desperate poverty and confronted with unthinkable tragedies, all Andrew ever wanted was to be with his mom. But as her mental health steadily declined, and with no one left to care for him, authorities arrived and tore Andrew from his screaming mother's arms. In that moment, the life he knew came crashing down around him. He was only seven years old. Hope was institutionalized, and Andrew was placed in what would be his devastating reality for the next eleven years – foster care. After surviving one of our country's most notorious children's facilities, Andrew was thrust into a savagely loveless foster family that refused to accept him as one of their own. Deprived of the nurturing he needed, Andrew clung to academics and the kindness of teachers. All the while, he refused to surrender the love he held for his mother in his heart.

Megan Bauer, who works in the foster care industry in Northern Minnesota, joins me in our conversation. Megan also talks with a local young man who though not what we might think of as a typical foster parent, is doing a phenomenal job.

We'll also talk with Paul Nelson, a U of MN student who will do a poetry workshop in Grand Rapids at the Library on Friday April 11th at 6pm called "Poetry for the People".

Hope's Boy by Andrew Bridge

I'm getting ready to tape an interview tomorrow with Andrew Bridge. Andrew's book, "Hope's Boy" is his memoir about growing up in the foster care system of Los Angeles. It's a New York Times Bestseller, a Publisher's Weekly bestseller as well as garnering many other distinctions....

Hope’s Boy captures an unprecedented child’s perspective into the world of foster care…a personal and penetrating description of the deep wounds children suffer when placed in the cold and unnatural world of foster care.— Amy Pellman, Commissioner, Los Angeles Superior Court

Andrew begins chapter one with this stunning sentence:

My earliest memory of my mother is her absence.

I'll be talking with Andrew about Hope's Boy along with Megan, who works locally in foster care. Keep posted for more information on when you can hear this interview.