Wednesday’s Child: Budding Musician Hoping For Loving, Supportive Family

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – For many of us, our childhoods were full of dance lessons, softball games and piano practice — but for the many children stuck in the Utah Foster Care system.

They don’t get a lot of those opportunities. They don’t even have a family to call their own.

For some, music can be a pathway to peace, a gateway to gratitude, or a practice in patience.

“Oh, my gosh. I’m so awkward,” Taylor exclaimed as she started playing on the piano.

For Taylor, music means consistency and a sense of calm in a world of calamity.

“The first time I touched the piano, I was kind of scared,” Taylor said.

She hasn’t had any formal teaching; no piano teacher by her side until Wednesday when Taylor was invited to have a formal lesson at a local music school.

“I guess music just defines my life,” she said.

Taylor is choosing keys, rhythm, and chords to make up the sound track of her future instead of a playing for a past filled with pain. It’s a pain that is often too hard to talk about.

“I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be saying right now,” she said nervously.

Right now, Taylor lives in a group home in state custody. She said it’s not ideal.

“Yeah,” she said, “I would love to get adopted.”

She longs for a permanent home with a loving family.

“(I want) a family to support me,” she said. “I feel like that would really help. When I grow up, I want to be a musician and if I had someone to support me then I think it would help so much.”

Until that day comes, she will keep practicing the piano and practicing patience as she waits for her forever family.

To learn more about Taylor, or the many other children waiting to be adopted, contact The Utah Adoption Exchange at 801-265-0444 or at www.adoptex.org