Loose ends

Closure happens slowly after a foster child leaves.  There are reminders popping up here and there, things to process, things to do.

• Gathering the leftovers.  I never pack well enough.  After a move, I find a child's stuff everywhere.  I found socks for Pterodactyl, Beetle, and Caterpillar months later.  Oh, and pacifiers.  So many pacifiers.  I'm collecting Cricket's little things I'm finding in a basket for when we see her next.  It's a pretty full basket already.
• YouTube suggestions.  Cricket's favorite videos are suggested to me daily.
• Memory items to finish.  We made a handprint on a little canvas for our wall of handprints, but somehow I can't bring myself to put in the nail and hang it up yet.  I also completely forgot until now that months ago when we first thought she was moving "soon" I bought a recordable book, as she loves one that was given to Rhinoceros.  So, I need to record that for her and give to her.
• Office calls.  It hasn't happened this time, but usually I have doctors' offices, etc. calling me about future appointments and such and I have to give the phone number of the new home.
• People that didn't get to say goodbye.  The back-and-forth never-100%-sure nature of the end of Cricket's placement kept us from holding a goodbye party.  Adults understand, but I forget that there are kids that knew her and now suddenly don't see her.  Our babysitter's little girl was so confused when I dropped off Rhinoceros but not Cricket.  In the past several months, she'd talked about them as a unit: RhinocerosCricket.  I feel bad she didn't get closure, as they likely would have come for a goodbye party.

Goodbyes are messy.