Know Your Neighbor: Casey and Cathy Adolph
For most, a large black, plastic trash bag is a container in which garbage is placed. To a child in foster care, it signifies moving day — again.
Back when orphanages housed children whose parents had died, they now are overflowing with kids and referenced as “children’s homes.” Maybe all should pause for a moment to contemplate what it would feel like to have no family.
Casey and Cathy Adolph did exactly that after having participated in the Spiritual seminar, Radical, presented by David Platt intended to assist each attendee to examine their purpose in life.
“My husband and I were perfectly content with our three children and our lives,” said Cathy. “But we prayed about what more we could do with our lives and we decided to give foster children a forever home.”
Cathy, born May 4, 1982, in Maryville to Alan and Fran Eley, realized even as a little girl, she had a penchant for the underdog. She loved her collection of baby dolls and would gravitate to the less attractive dolls when at daycare.
She was taught at an early age about God, the importance of family and to use her heart when making decisions. Cathy grew up in Highland and graduated from HHS in 2000. She and Casey were high school sweethearts. They met when Cathy performed for the Christmas Madrigal Dinner and Casey had to carry the boar’s head in an attempt to acquire extra credits.
Cathy said she “loved his beautiful blue eyes, radiant smile and his reverence for God.”
Casey was a senior and Cathy a junior when they met. They married Oct. 27, 2001, and met their newborn daughter, Maddison, in 2002. Another daughter, Reagan, was born three years later followed by son, Alan, the next year. Cathy was a stay-at-home mom and Casey worked for AT&T.
Adolphs dive into adoption, foster care
Once they decided to adopt, they used an agency in Hoyleton. Each was required to attend foster parenting classes twice weekly for six weeks and became licensed in 2012. They had to be foster parents for one full year before they could start an adoption process.
The Adoption Network notes there are more than 60% of children in foster care who spend two-five years in the system before being adopted. Almost 20% spend five or more years in foster care before being adopted. Some never get adopted.
Their statistics reveal “of the more than 400,000 children in foster care in the United States, 114,556 cannot be returned to their families and are waiting to be adopted. Among these children, males outnumber females, African-American children are disproportionately represented and over half are 6 years old or older. Also no more than 2% of Americans have actually adopted, more than 1/3 have considered it.”
The Adolph’s first call came in January 2013. Caseworkers informed them they had the opportunity to adopt 6-year-old Olivia. They were delighted and soon 5-year-old William became an Adolph. William had an older sister, Destiny, who was 13, and one day while having a sibling visit, William excitedly showed Destiny his new home and bedroom. It was not long before Destiny joined the growing gang.
Later, 5-year-old Michael joined the tribe and the Adolph home became a hub of activities, laughter, discussions, learning and love.
Not for the faint of art, a bucket of chicken
“It’s not for the faint of heart,” acknowledged Cathy. “It is something for which you must prepare. We talked to our biological children and they knew, understood and accepted that they were going to have to share possessions and their parents; God teaches us to share.”
Cathy said she and Casey explained to all their children there would be moments when, as parents, they would fail and make mistakes, but they would always be a family and “God will never fail you.” Acknowledging, as with most families, the siblings have an occasional feud, they are all very protective of each other.
When the family is in a public setting and the expected questions from strangers are asked, they reply, “Our family is a bucket of chicken. Some of us are original and some of us are extra crispy.” To one inquiring individual, little Michael said “Hi, I’m Michael and I’m extra crispy.”
“We’re just ordinary people,” said Cathy. “But we serve an extraordinary God. Blood and DNA don’t make a family; love and support makes a family and no one ever feels alone. Everyone in our household knows they are loved, appreciated and accepted.”
The Adolphs expressed they believe they, as a couple, have benefited more from their extensive family than the children they adopted.
“Not a single one of our original or extra crispy children have ever said they wished it had turned out any other way,” said Cathy.
Cathy wants readers to know there are still myriads of children wanting and waiting for a forever home and hopes others will consider adoption.
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.