At 12 years old, Jasmine is beginning the transition from a girl to a young woman. She's just starting to wear a little makeup and starting to be interested in boys. Now, Jasmine needs parents to help guide her, support her and love her.
When Jasmine and News 8's Marcella Lee sat down to draw, she suggested creating a piece of art that showcased both the sun and the rain.
Jasmine enjoys drawing especially when she's feeling angry or sad. For Jasmine, drawing pictures brings her peace.
"It helps me calm down and express my feelings, because I can draw what I'm feeling," she explained.
And so Marcella couldn't help but wonder if Jasmine's rain drops in her picture signified tears shed through the years - the mixture of seasons - a reflection of her mixed emotions.
"I'm feeling happy and sad. I don't know why," Jasmine said.
Happy perhaps, about the prospect of finding a forever family, while harboring sadness from having spent nearly her whole life, since she was a baby, in foster care. Her life of moving time and time again is the only life she knows.
"It's hard to lose the family you've been with for a really long time and you have to go over there and start a new life," Jasmine continues. "You don't know how it's going to be when you go, what if they're mean or what if they're nice, you don't know. All you have to do is just live with them."
But Jasmine hopes there are blue skies ahead and when she thinks about being adopted, Jasmine's not picky. She wants any kind of family, a family to spend time with.
"I love going to the beach," she said. "And I like going to the park, sometimes to the zoo."
So, what would Jasmine like to do with her mom?
"Shopping, I don't know why. I just love shopping," Jasmine noted.
And what would she do with her future father? The honesty in her answer is so refreshing.
"With a dad, I would go, probably fishing even though I don't like fish or anything, even though they're gross, I would still, because it would be fun," Jasmine added.
As Jasmine transitions to a teenager, she needs a family to help guide her through these impressionable years.
"Well Yeah! I have Bieber fever just like all the girls!" she exclaimed.
Justin Bieber is her idol, but what Jasmine needs are role models in a mom and dad.
If you are interested in adopting from foster care, or becoming a foster family, call 1-877-I-ADOPT-U to learn more about getting started or go to their website to take that first step and fill out an adoption form.
News 8 would also like to thank local photographer Maria Dadez for volunteering her time to take the Heart Gallery photographs you saw in the story.
