Thanksgiving takes on new meaning for newly adopted sisters in North Carolina

CLINTON, NC (WTVD) — Sisters Kaylyn and Aubrey Pope were recently adopted by their great aunt and uncle, and they’re grateful to have vacationed with them.

Kaylin, 14, and Aubrey, 8, live with their adoptive parents in Sampson County, 1.5 hours south of Durham, where they were once homeless and eventually landed in foster care.

Last year the girls were officially adopted by their aunts and uncles Cathy and Arnold Pope.

Kaylyn officially changed her middle name to Grace to honor her new found trust and gratitude.

“I’m just grateful to Gran and Pop because they’ve been through so much with us,” Kaylin said. “I’m just grateful they took us in.”

According to Pope, the girls’ parents suffered from substance abuse. His father had recently died of his addiction.
In 2018, the retired couple began the process of fostering kinship through Durham Social Services, becoming parents to schoolchildren again. This time when he was in his mid 60s.

Arnold Pope said, “We had to do it. I thought we had to do it.” “They are family.”

“It was a long journey. It was grueling and difficult, but they kept us with them,” said Kathy Pope. “We’re very lucky that they’ve adjusted as we go.”
It has also been a change for the Pope.

“Very different from raising boys,” Arnold said.

“Necklaces, jewelry, fingernail nails, haircuts, hairstyle drama drama,” joked Kathy.

Aubrey calls her great aunt and uncle Mom and Pop. She describes the experience of being with them in one word: “nice.”

According to statewide data from Management Assistance for Child Welfare, Work First, and Food and Nutrition Services in North Carolina, an estimated 11,585 children were in foster care in September 2021; On an average, 16,652 children were under the care of the state during the period from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.