She looks reasonably relaxed and calm. She speaks in measured thoughtful sentences, pausing from time to time to make sure she finds just the right word. A couple of her adopted pups trot in, two tiny hardship cases named Carl and Chad (the latter, missing a leg — he was extra needy, and that’s why he’s here).
She smiles a bit nervously as she says she’ll be chaperoning her 15-year-old son’s date later that afternoon. Just another day for a mom who has just helped get her 29 kids ready for school.
Sharing a quiet moment with Ann Silcock is something to be valued and appreciated — she is a busy woman, after all. As you may be aware, Ann and her husband, Jim, have adopted 43 children over the last 10 years, focusing their life’s energies on building a family made up of kids that, as Ann puts it, “People just didn’t want. Kids who are disabled, abused… everything.” But what may be cumbersome disabilities to some parents become diamonds in the rough for the Silcocks — they’ve watched boys bloom into young men in their household over the years, thriving in an environment that’s nurturing, positive and productive.
