family ties
parents provide r oom in their homes and their hearts
THE SIGN READ, “Vera Wren
Holloman. In foster care 1,070 days.
Today I was adopted.” The face of the
small ecstatic child holding the sign
was so precious, tears flowed.
Wilmington photographer and new
mom Millie Holloman was looking
for a way to say thank you, to show her appreciation to all
the people involved in the process of adopting her foster
daughter in March. Every person that day — the judge,
caseworker, aunt and uncles, grandparents — held up their
own signs for the camera, the delight on each face obvious.
Holloman’s sign read, “Today I became a Mom.” Vera
Wren’s foster brother’s sign (his full face not showing) read,
“I’m next.”
“It’s more than me and her,” Holloman said at the time.
“There were so many other people involved.”
She posted a video montage online, and became an
Internet sensation when the story went viral. She garnered
national publicity. The Huffington Post called first. Then
ABC News picked up her story, and she and Vera Wren
appeared on the network’s “Good Morning America.”
What began as something personal, something Holloman
says she did for her daughter, became a feel-good story for
the nation. And, Holloman hopes, something much more.
“There’s a reason this happened,” she says. “If our story
and all of this can bring a light to foster care and help other
kids find amazing homes, then it’s worth it.”
There are many kids who need foster families. Alice Moore
of New Hanover County’s Department of Social Services says
the county has taken 450 children into care.
B Y C A R O L E W I R S Z Y L A
august 2017 44
WBM