Emma Patterson and her husband separated in the 1980s, leaving her with the only career she knew: caring for children.
“I had been married for a long time and I was trying to find my way because I didn’t really have a career,” she told TODAY.com in an interview.
“I was a housewife… and I just started taking care of the kids,” she adds.
The 88-year-old has cared for more than 40 children in Montgomery County, Maryland, over the past four decades. She is likely one of the longest-serving foster parents in the county and one of those who have taken in the most children, a county spokesperson confirmed to TODAY.com.
Throughout her career, Patterson has picked up newborns from the hospital, cared for multiple siblings and housed teenage parents and their babies, she says. She has kept in touch with many of them over the years.
“Believe me, it wasn’t for the money, because they don’t give you that much money to take care of these kids,” she says. “Best of all, all my children have turned out absolutely fantastic.”
She is currently caring for a teenager who will graduate from high school this year.
Now that it’s out the door, Patterson is retiring with gratitude. Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich presented her with an award on May 31 in recognition of her decades of service.
“For them to recognize me the way they did touched my heart,” Patterson said.
“Every time I think about it I cry because I didn’t do something because I thought someone was paying attention to it,” she adds. “This was just something I felt I wanted to do.”
Patterson has two biological children and says helping their friends in need led her to become a foster parent.
“For whatever reason, my kids always thought I could solve the problem,” she says. “It actually started with some of my kids’ friends not really being taken care of. My kids brought them home and I just tried to give them something to eat and a place to stay. I would just do my best to help them a little.”
That became a formal foster parent. Her children grew up to be business owners, basketball players and “just great people,” Patterson says.
She says their success is a testament to how she approached sheltering.
“When they say ‘foster parenting’ it’s about the parenting, not the fostering part, that’s important to say. That parenting part, you really have to put in 365 days, 24 hours a day. You really have to try to be there 100% for the children, because most of them wouldn’t be in foster care if something traumatic and bad didn’t happen,” she says.
Patterson grew up with loving parents and three siblings of her own, so she knew what kind of home she wanted to create for her children.
“I grew up in a family where I knew someone loved me every day,” she says. “I knew someone cared about me. If you can grow up in an environment where someone really loves you, really cares about you and is just kind to you, I think that means more than anything.”
Patterson says she cherishes her foster experience.
“It was God’s gift that I had the honor of caring for those children,” she says.
“I’m very grateful,” she adds. “I don’t have any money in the bank. I have nothing, you know, but I feel in my heart it’s something that I can just take with me to my grave.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
