Nobody's Children

The orphan trains stopped running in 1929 and the foster care system began. Hollywood relieved Depression era problems on the subject with films starring Shirley Temple. "Room for One More" with Cary Grant depicted the need for foster families. "Blossoms In the Dust" starring Greer Garson dealt with the social stigma faced by both the parents and the children. Having immigrant parents in the mix added more problems. This was my family. We were a family torn apart as our parents fought to regain their children while the system held them hostage to the moral tenor of the times. Once the State took us a promise was made, a promise believed. Why, in the end, did we then feel twice abandoned, twice betrayed?