Chapter 23 - Guardianship
The court did not permanently place Lizzy with me after one emergency hearing.
There were evaluations.
Home study.
Background checks.
Financial review.
School planning.
Therapy input.
Gloria contested for months.
Then withdrew her request after the criminal plea.
Walt did not seek independent guardianship.
He said:
“I don’t think I should.”
That was one of the better decisions he made.
I became Lizzy’s permanent guardian eleven months after the storm.
Not her adoptive mother.
At least not then.
Why not adoption immediately?
Because Lizzy had parents.
They were dead.
Their legal and emotional identity mattered.
Guardianship gave me authority without asking a grieving six-year-old to replace language she was not ready to replace.
She called me:
Auntie.
At school forms:
Guardian.
At doctor visits:
Guardian.
At home:
The person who remembered she hated peas but still made her eat one green vegetable eventually.
The trust remained professionally managed.
I had no personal debit card to it.
Expenses above routine thresholds went through the trustee.
Was that inconvenient?
Yes.
May you like
Good.
After what happened, inconvenience felt like protection.
