To raise a child by one’s self already takes a special person; imagine what it takes to adopt a sick foster child who needs constant care, who very well might die in your arms. Mohamed Bzeek has spent the past twenty years caring for terminally ill foster children, taking them to doctors’ visits, tending to special needs, celebrating birthdays, and sacrificing sleep. When the DCFS has a child who’s not going to make it, he’s the man they call. No one else will take them. But Bzeek doesn’t just care for them; he loves them. Fearlessly. With all his heart. Knowing it will end in pain and loss. Of his current foster child, he says, “I know she can’t hear, can’t see, but I always talk to her. I’m always holding her, playing with her … She has feelings. She has a soul. She’s a human being.” For Bzeek, these aren’t just words; they’re his life.
