Demon Copperhead……

I gave the book, Demon Copperhead, to my friend, Carol, last night with almost relief to get it out of my house. This book is by Barbara Kingsolver, who wrote The Poisonwood Bible some years ago, and again the author attacks institutions who sometimes fail in their purpose to better the world, or at least not add to the problem

This is a story of how we, in America, deal with poverty and opioid addictions. This book has been touted as one of the great books of 2022, and it is. As I told Carol and my girls, sometimes I had to put it down and just not even look at it until I could wrap my mind and heart around this young boy and his story.

As he tells his story, there is enough guilt to share with social services, schools, foster care programs, and adults in general. And I believe that’s where my unease came from…. how many Demon Copperheads have I encountered in my life and not respond to their cry for help

A lot of you know that, while rearing my own girls, we participated with Social Service here in the valley with their foster care program. I found out there was a need for emergency and short term placement for children until a more permanent plan was established. Thus we took care of infants until adoptions were finalized…….Pure Joy !!!!! And also children taken from their homes and need immediate care until long term plans occurred. So we had children brought to us in the middle of the night on occasion.

I can’t begin to relate some of the heart wrenching moments that occurred when little ones were pulled from my arms screaming, No No, as a custodial child was reclaimed by that parent. I need to say emphatically that the Social Services were wonderfully trained and caring but had to act within the law, always, despite their better judgment.

I personally fostered a Demon Copperhead when teenagers were those who were in my care, and I relived some of those moments as I read his story. I am going to tell you just one incident that still haunts me. We were caring for two middle school girls who had gotten moved from a foster home they were living in and brought to me until a new place was found. One of the girls was put in a group home because she had real problems that needed attention. The other girl was a quiet, somber young girl, so I sat down beside her as we waited for Social Service to come pick them up. “I said, Penny( not her real name) are you going to be all right with this move?” She looked me with the saddest eyes and said.”Who cares about what I think about anything.”

Demon Copperhead could have been that same child that sat on my sofa and I didn’t have an answer for his future. My daughter Sarah, is listening to an audio version of the book, and it is impacting her too. When someone asks you, “Who cares about what I think?” I hope you have a better answer than I gave that young girl so long ago. I didn’t say anything!!