We adopted a little boy who had already been returned by three different families because they said he was “too difficult.”

We adopted a little boy who had already been returned by three different families because they said he was “too difficult.”

Many people told us we were making a mistake.

But many years later, when we lost everything, he was the only person who chose to stay.

They told me that boy wouldn’t last long with us.

The social worker’s voice was soft as she adjusted a thick folder full of papers that looked like they had already passed through countless hands.

Outside, the sun burned brightly over the orphanage yard. You could hear cars passing on the road and the distant shout of a street vendor.

—Three families have already tried —she said—. All of them returned him.