Jessica Huertas stays strong throughout challenges with fostercare
Who takes care of you? It seems like a loaded question before we break it down. That someone can be anyone. It can be your mom, your dad, your grandparent, or a partner. It can be someone who cooks for you, who holds you, someone who teaches you how to fix cars, who comforts you, someone who makes you feel safe and loved. Everyone on the planet has someone who takes care of them. Almost everyone in the world is someone who takes care of someone else. The brain constantly craves connections, but who has the strongest tether?
When I was 13, I unfortunately lost my mother. My entire world collapsed right under me. Any stability I was trying to build was completely lost. When my world was rocked by tragedy, when my future was uncertain, there was one person who came blazing in with passion I had never seen before. Jessica Huertas is my tio’s wife—they’ve been together twenty years—and she’s now my foster parent. My titi went from one kid to five overnight, and instead of buckling under the pressure, she rose to the occasion. I saw with my eyes the endless willpower and strength humans are capable of—the willpower and strength that my titi is capable of.
Jessica’s days are spent torn between too many kids and too many chores. She spends most of her time making sure the entire family is okay. She takes time to do every leftover dish, answers every stupid question, deals with every dumb injury, and still finds time to cook dinner almost every night.
Oftentimes, Jessica struggles to find time for herself. Even with the weight she carries, my titi still loves life. She gets up in the morning, takes a breath of fresh air, and gets to work every morning. Jessica wants to experience life, and she wants to show all her kids that beauty, too.
I came into her house with walls up, prepared for a catch that would never come, a shoe that would never drop. Titi learned quickly that every kid needs a different parent, saying, “They all need different ways of guidance, support, and nurturing.” Even when one of us would shut down, lash out, lose progress, or be annoying, Jessica always stuck by us.
Since taking us all in, Jessica’s life has been very different. When asked what it was like, she described it as a hard, beautiful, crazy rollercoaster. There are highs and lows to it. One of the lows has been dealing with DHS and the foster care system. Jessica has consistently felt undersupported, prosecuted, and overwhelmed by caseworkers. She feels as though the workers don’t care about the kids. She works hard to meet every demand, but they come back with 100 things she did wrong and 1,000 more things she has to get done. From the lack of structure to the unorganized way paperwork is handled, Titi does not get along with many, if any, social workers.
When I asked what people thought about Jessica, I got a lot of in-depth answers. My friends described her as cool, funny, and pretty. They said they felt accepted and welcomed by her. All in all, my friends love Titi, especially her cooking. My siblings share their sentiments. We came into her house terrified and completely uncertain. Slowly we were able to build connections as they got more comfortable looking at her like a parent.
Now they’re completely comfortable with her. They go to her when anything happens, big or small, because they trust her to keep them safe. Finally, her husband, Jose Matias, had the most to say about her. He described Jessica as an extremely passionate and endlessly caring person. He said, “Despite many people taking advantage of her in the past, she never shies away from helping someone in need.” To Tio, Jessica is a very straightforward person, but also someone who will always stay loyal to those she cares about.
When I was at my lowest, when I was freshly an orphan and I wanted nothing more than for the pain to end, Jessica was there. It felt like I barely knew her, and she still cared for me more than I’d ever experienced. I had never felt love like that. I am endlessly jealous of my cousins because they have the parents I always wished for. It feels as though all those nights I spent crying out for someone to care about me were worth it; someone answered my calls. There isn’t a day that I don’t miss my mom, but I’m endlessly grateful to have someone to fill that hole. Who takes care of me? My titi Jess does.
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