We were pressured to accept kids we were not qualified to handle. And we do that to people all the time, which is why we don’t have enough foster parents. Vanessa Diffenbaugh Read Quote
I am not only the person who wrote and sold a novel while raising a houseful of biological and foster children; I am also the person who wrote a horrific young adult novel that never sold and gave up on a foster child I couldn’t handle – an experience that still haunts me. Vanessa Diffenbaugh Read Quote
We are more and more into technology. Everything is texting, and everything is instant. Flowers are completely impractical as a method of communication when you could just send a text. Vanessa Diffenbaugh Read Quote
I don’t think there is anything magical about the language of flowers in real life or in my book. Vanessa Diffenbaugh Read Quote
At Camellia Network, we believe if we can create a way of identifying every young person aging out of foster care, defining what they need, and giving a community of supporters a simple and clear way to fulfill those needs, we can produce radically improved outcomes for youth. Vanessa Diffenbaugh Read Quote
My last book, ‘The Language of Flowers,’ I wrote completely on naptime, when my little kids were asleep. Vanessa Diffenbaugh Read Quote
I think that the hardest thing about working with young people in foster care who’ve been through this kind of neglect and abuse is really to convince them that they are worthy of being loved. And I think because often they don’t feel worthy of it, that’s why they push people away. Vanessa Diffenbaugh Read Quote
You have to really prove yourself to young people, and if your answer is clear and consistent and loving – even if it’s angry and disappointed – what’s important is that you’re being real and honest and not going anywhere. Vanessa Diffenbaugh Read Quote
My husband was working as principal of an urban transformation high school – the kind of public charter school determined to do whatever it takes to give its mostly minority, low-income student body the education they need and deserve to be successful in life. Vanessa Diffenbaugh Read Quote
