The date was July 18, 2009.
I had gone to San Diego to visit my 'little sister', Sue, for the second time ever.
She and her wife, Cyndi, had adopted these three siblings from their drug-abusing mom.
The state of California had removed these children from her after one of their brothers got into her stash on the coffee table.
I'm standing with Cooper (Xavier), Dylan (Ashley), and little Riley (Alana).
The kids all got new first names as part of the adoption.
Cooper and Dylan are "Irish twins", meaning they were both born within twelve months of each other.
Dylan is the big sister, born in January, and Cooper was next, born in November, with both in 2002.
The sibling that died was between Cooper and Riley.
Dylan was 4, Cooper was 3, and Riley was only 18 months old when Sue and Cyndi adopted them.
Sue told me the children were like wild things, having never had rules.
The Mama and Momma used to cry themselves to sleep while they waited for the children to acclimate to their new lives.
That was almost two years before I met them.
The first time I went to San Diego was for Dylan's 6th birthday.
That was a lot of fun, with Disney princesses, face painting, and a bouncy house, all right there at Sue and Cyndi's house!
Good times!
The photo, though, was from my trip there for the San Diego PRIDE Festival.
What a blast we had!
We even marched in the parade!!!
Plus, I got to see Dylan in action as 'Glitter Bomb', her persona for roller derby - she was so fierce!
Good times, definite good times!
I haven't seen them since then.
Sue came here to Savannah a couple of times to visit her dad, but those were solo trips.
Cyndi was not keen on visiting the south in general or Georgia in particular.
Anyway, where was I?
Oh, yes, my trip out to San Diego that summer of 2009, after the deaths of Daddy and Sam Johnson that year.
I needed a change of venue and Sue certainly provided it!
The photo made me wonder just how old the children might be now...
then I realized: that was 16 years ago.
That means Dylan is 23 and most likely done with college.
Cooper will be 23 in November and is probably done with school, too.
And little Riley must be 19, so she's in college.
Wow.
I have had no contact with any of them since January of 2015.
That's when Sue's father died.
Dylan would have been 13 just before his death.
Cyndi decided to take advantage of Ed's death to sever ties with Savannah, and arranged it so that ties with me were severed as well.
Sue did as Cyndi wanted, and I accept that.
Still, I do wonder how the children are, now that they are young adults.
Would I even recognize them?
Maybe they will visit here some day and I'll get a chance to see if I do.
That would be nice.
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