Parents-
‘Such a goosebump moment’-
52 friends and family members lined the courtroom on adoption day.
The following written content by Kait Hanson
When Rita Marlow and Seth Lentchner of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, heard there was a child in need on their son’s soccer team, they didn’t think twice about offering a helping hand. Now, that boy is their son.
“We are still a little in shock,” Rita Marlow told TODAY Parents. “We keep saying, ‘It’s for real?'”
Marlow and Lentchner met Nate, now 16, for the first time about nine years ago when he played soccer with their son, Zachary. The young boys forged a close bond and the families became familiar with one another.
“As the years went on, we found out the family’s struggles,” Marlow explained. “We would pick Nate up on Friday, (and) he would hang out for the weekend. As they got older, we saw him a lot more and he spent a lot more time at our house.”
During a soccer tournament in 2016, Marlow and Lentchner received news that would change their lives.
“We got a phone call that Nate had been removed from his home and they wanted to know if we could keep him connected to soccer,” Marlow explained.
Just a few days later, Nate’s case manager asked whether the family would consider becoming foster parents.
“This wasn’t something we had ever considered,” Marlow told TODAY. “They said the reason they were asking is that Nate asked to come live at our house.”
Marlow said the first person she asked was her son, Zach.
“I said, ‘Zach, Nate needs our help, but you’re going to have to share a room,'” Marlow explained. “He said, ‘Absolutely. We need to help Nate.'”
Marlow said she was initially a little nervous about how the family would make financial ends meet, but fellow soccer moms, family members and friends donated everything from gift cards to bunk beds.
“I was so worried, because we didn’t want to fail him,” Marlow said. “But everybody immediately stepped up — and that’s why I sound so cliché about saying ‘our village’ — just to make sure this kid was going to succeed. That’s how it’s always been for five years. We provided the roof, but along the way, so many people have been here.” Read more from Today.
