Gary Moskowitz
EAGLE ROCK -- The word family takes on a unique definition for Darlene
and Jackie Flores.
The two Burbank Brownie troop members, who were adopted by David and
Sharon Flores of Burbank several years ago, decided to take their fellow
Brownie Troop members to the Optimist Foster Agency in Eagle Rock last
week -- a place the two girls hadn't revisited since they were adopted at
3.
The visit was exceptionally bittersweet, since their adoptive mother,
Sharon Flores, died in July 2000.
"It was very emotional for them both, because they've lost two
mommies," said Lisa Hansen, a biological daughter of David and Sharon
Flores who now helps her father care for the girls and another adopted
7-year-old son, Christopher. "All the girls who went were hugging
afterward."
Hansen said Darlene, 7, Jackie, 6, and the 33 girls in Burbank Brownie
Troops 273, 535 and 419 decided to contribute new and used stuffed
animals and toys, care packages containing toothpaste, toothbrushes and
lip balm and handmade drawings of animals and rainbows to hang on the
walls in the playroom of the agency.
The playroom is where foster children meet their new foster parents
for the first time, Hansen said.
David Flores, Darlene and Jackie's adoptive father, said it is
important to show other children that being adopted isn't such a strange
thing, and contributing care packages for adopted children is extremely
helpful for adopting parents.
"When a foster child comes out of the hospital or an agency, they have
nothing," he said.
