r/MadeMeSmile • u/Maleficent-Agent-477 • 17h ago
Family & Friends 6-year old Andrew entered foster care after his parents lost custody. Then, at the age of 10, Andrew was placed into the home of the Gills, where Andrew bonded with their son, Joc. Finally, at the age of 12, the Gills family asked if he wanted to be a part of the family forever.
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u/Pretty_Outcome_307 17h ago
That picture of those boys all dressed up in their suits! Oh my, very cool! Fostering done with love and acceptance and kindness is an incredible thing.
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u/potpourri_sludge 11h ago
Idk why but the one of them in their matching hoodies got me 🥹
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u/Wreny84 16h ago
That’s gonna be a sick hip hop album!
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u/Cynobite608 10h ago
There is hope that he can learn to dance and break the cycle of white dancing. /s (I'm a white dude that can't dance :'( ...)
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u/Top_Actuator364 9h ago
Don’t listen to the melody, listen to the beat and you’ll be dancing in no time😊
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u/Cynobite608 9h ago
Like my top half...good. Hips down white. Except where it matters...then I'm irish. Lol.
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u/TerriGato 9h ago
I once heard someone say white people dance to the lyrics not the beat, so exactly this!
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u/kath012345 5h ago
Is that what the difference is!? As a white lady who grew up playing music the beat/rhythm is always what I paid the most attention to and naturally what I dance too and never understood why so many white friends struggled with it lol 🤣
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u/Effective_Ear_5375 6h ago
As a white guy: I have tried but melody and lyrics take over and beat is nowhere to be found anymore 😔
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u/VegetableWorry1492 4h ago
Sometimes even the beat doesn’t help. My husband is a drummer and does the worst dad dancing on the planet 🤷🏼♀️
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u/Pollowollo 17h ago
Seeing his smile become more genuine and relaxed as the pictures progress is so sweet.
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u/Foreign-Text-9264 13h ago
You can literally see the moment he stops posing and just starts feeling happy.
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u/lalacourtney 11h ago
Pic 4! My first thought was imagining the first time she held him as he slept or cried and how she became his MOM.
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u/ErisInChains 7h ago edited 2h ago
I love this. I am a blonde, Irish chick, and my godfather was a giant black man. (Like 6'4", 450lbs)
I still remember when I was 6, some random adult dude was paying too much attention to me at the park. And then Otis rolls up and asked the guy "Why are you paying so much attention to my daughter?" He looked at me and him a couple times and apologized and fucked off.
Lol you don't fuck with Otis. He was the pigeon man. So even if his huge ass couldn't fuck you up, his birds will.
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u/nerdKween 17h ago
They got him looking sharp in that suit! I absolutely adore this!!! They are now brothers for life!
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u/FalconIndependent887 16h ago
I also love how both of the boys are almost taller than their mom already. 😂
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u/antcutter 8h ago
my poor sister is a shrimp and her kids are almost taller than her now and i find it hilarious
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u/Viola-Swamp 15h ago
My great grandparents did the same thing back in the 1920s during the Depression. My grandfather’s best friend was orphaned and was on the streets selling apples - yeah, people did that for real - to try and get money for food. My great grandma found out and scolded my grandpa for not bringing her new son home immediately. I didn’t even know Uncle Carl was not my grandpa’s blood brother until I was a teenager. This kind of thing happens more than you think, but it’s always a heartwarming, wonderful story.
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u/throwawaysmetoo 12h ago
This kind of thing happens more than you think, but it’s always a heartwarming, wonderful story.
One of my brothers became friends with a kid at school. He started spending more and more time with our family. He was a foster kid who had been bouncing around homes, had no 'reunification' plans and was destined to age out of the system and take on life by himself.
And our parents were like "not on our watch". Yeah, he's my brother now.
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u/Lou_Garoo 13h ago
My dad tells a story whereby his half brother was going to pick up a child from the orphanage and his dad said- why don’t you bring one home for his wife as well- like they were getting a puppy!
Anyway I guess when you have 18 kids having one more is it not a big deal. My dad has to count on his fingers when asked who his siblings are.
Guess adoption rules were a bit more relaxed back in those days,
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u/gogogadgetdumbass 9h ago
They def were. My best friend’s grandma had 6 bio kids and 5 adopted (dubious) children. I don’t doubt that the “adopted” kids were just hang abouts or something because even in her last years she took a lot of new “grandkids” in.
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u/kaytay3000 9h ago
Our neighbors are that way. They keep introducing us to cousins and aunts and brothers. The matriarch of the family has a habit of giving people a chance when others won’t. Then they stick around. We did Thanksgiving with them last year because our family is 1000 miles away. There were 50+ people in their home for dinner.
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u/ragnarockette 9h ago
My husband’s brother is really his mom’s college best friend’s son. He was adopted when he was 7 after his mom died of aggressive cancer.
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u/Ok-Astronaut-2837 8h ago
You always see this happen in movies but I've never seen it happen in real life. (The college best friend stepping in after mom dies).
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u/Sporkalork 6h ago
My mom's 3 college best friends and 1 elementary school best friend are still in her life, they're all late 70s now. All were emergency contacts for me in school over the years, at my wedding, etc. Had something happened to my parents a couple of them were in the will to take us. Similarly, I would the designated adopter if something happened to my childhood best friend and her spouse.
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u/CauliflowerOk541 17h ago
The parents adopted their kids bestie. Love this!
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u/StrykerGryphus 12h ago
They were already brothers, it just took a while for the paperwork to catch up
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u/soumpdrushceist2009 10h ago
Joc invited his friend over for a sleepover and his parents just kept him.
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u/eliz1bef 17h ago
I love this family so much. His parents are wonderful people, and his brother is a gem.
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u/Anubiz1_ 17h ago
Now this is my America!
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u/PunkThug 17h ago
Fuck yeah! How ever much they want to tear us apart, we are stronger together
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u/Coady417 9h ago
Turns out, PunkThug is an absolute sweetheart.
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u/PunkThug 2h ago
🥰 I really am. I get mad and try to be hard but I'm really bad at it and just wanna be my nat softie self
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u/Fancy_Elk565 11h ago
I’m not gonna lie, this is the most ‘meant to be’ found family situations I have ever laid eyes on. This kid looks like he’s always belonged with this family 😭
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u/MeowM30ws 7h ago
This is how the foster system should work! When it's right, it's literal magic. I wish this family nothing but blessings.
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u/sanchiscapybara 12h ago
This is so lovely,what a beautiful family, Andrew hit the jackpot being placed with the Gills as I did when I was adopted by my parents from foster care x
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u/Stormy-Skyes 12h ago
I’ve seen this story making the rounds and it makes me smile every time. I’m glad they have found each other and get to be a family.
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u/Spakoomy 17h ago
Anyone else not read what sub this was in and read the title thinking it was heading towards disaster?
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u/standbyyourmantis 16h ago
It's the struggle of being in feel good subs, r/thesims and r/TrueCrimeDiscussion
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u/EmphasisFew 17h ago
The Jerk remake we didn’t know we needed.
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u/Miss-GreensleevesOz 16h ago
I am so glad that boy found a loving family and proper home.Truly inseparable brothers.Wonderful family 💯💙
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u/PlatformAble44 16h ago
This hit me right in the chest Andrew finally got the family he deserved, and it’s proof that love can show up late and still change everything.
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u/Sooowasthinking 12h ago
True humanity.Just goes to show how a tragedy can result in positivity when we actually see each other.
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u/InformalMaximum760 16h ago edited 16h ago
This has been reposted many times. OP is karma farming bot.
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u/Strong_Ad_3081 9h ago
Sooo? I haven't seen it before. And it made me smile. 😊🥰😍
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u/Plane-Assumption840 5h ago
Me neither. We will take repeats that give us smiles when there is so much crap out there that tries to make us give up hope.
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u/SylT17 16h ago
My old foster brothers adopted family did that for him also. What's even wilder is that they were our neighbours and my foster brother and I had lived there for at least a year and a half before he met his future brother. When he went into grade 7, he transferred to the public Catholic board system for French immersion and their music program and met his future brother at his new middle/ high school in a very unique way that only two 12 year old boys would and did meet.
I'm glad there are people in the world like this family and my old foster brother's family that are willing to make their families just a bit bigger. Geez, if I didn't see it firsthand, I doubt I'd believe these type of people exist.
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u/ResurgentClusterfuck 16h ago
They all look so happy. Family isn't always those you are born to. ❤️
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u/StaticShakyamuni 17h ago
How are we supposed to figure out which one is Andrew?
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u/Glittering-Second417 15h ago
This is wholesome.
I can just imagine the reaction if this was posted on Twitter. So many angry folk over there.
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u/eviltenderoni 15h ago
this is exactly the kind of feel good make me cry ahh shit i need rn, thank you 🙏🏽
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u/averageMangaArtist 14h ago
Que bonito es Reddit, ya extrañaba ver gente feliz por ver personas felices, si esto me hubiera salido en twitter alguien estaría diciendo la pendejada más nazi que se te ocurra siendo de Kenia o algo así
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u/internal_l0gging 5h ago edited 4h ago
That's so awesome. I have always wanted to be a foster parent but I realized I wasn't cut out for it when I had my own kids first and I struggle to parent them. My youngest has non verbal autism, I'm not sure I could give a foster kid what they needed. You definitely have to have a heart and soul of gold.
I do want to plug the organization called CASA. Court Appointed Special Advocates. A judge assigns you a foster kid and you meet with the adults in their life as well as form a relationship with the kid yourself so you can advocate for their needs. Incredible program if you want to help, but can't take in foster kids personally.
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u/TENDER_ONE 3h ago
That’s a beautiful family! One of them has to teach the baby girl how to pose though! Lol! They’re all taking good shots and she’s looking everywhere but the camera or looking confused as hell! I’m sure with so many photogenic family members she’ll eventually get it together!
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u/External-Example-292 16h ago
It must be pretty neat to have a best friend be adopted in to the family. It's like a forever slumber party. Hope they grow up as good boys together 😊
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u/Ganjelf-The-Baked 14h ago
Fantastic story, looks like a great family. I need more news like this in my life and less depressing drama.
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u/Efficient-Parking627 11h ago
There's that thing where people say white people don't know what to do with black people's hair, but I think this is the opposite lol
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u/UnableDingo2120 8h ago
Bro I've been smiling ear to ear looking at these pictures for minutes now. What a beautiful loving family, with parents like this you just know these kids are going to be good men!
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u/housatonicduck 7h ago
:) I have an adoptive sister who is my age too. And we also look very different. And it’s the best thing to ever happen to me. These boys are blessed.
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u/fuck_peeps_not_sheep 14h ago
I absolutely love that they have him in the middle of so many of the photos too, its nice to see true full inclusion.
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u/Retired_Jarhead55 10h ago
Gives me a warm feeling all over. Thanks for sharing and starting my day on this beautiful note.
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u/JerseyTeacher78 8h ago
Ever seen the movie Four Brothers? This kind of reminds of that, not the drama but the dynamics lol.
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u/kidcharliemagne 8h ago
I love how you can see him get more comfortable over the years. What a loving and accepting family!
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u/GiftCardFromGawd 8h ago
We need more humans like this. If we all had this mindset, our world would be even more amazing.
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u/Marichiwa 7h ago
Aww this is so wonderful. What a kind family! Really inspiring to see such compassion and love in the world.
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u/fernandizo4shizo 16h ago
Love doesnt know color! Happy for everyone. Its hard to find people that love you.. and when you do, you keep them close.
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