JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jaleel's life has been full of empty promises.
He's grown up thinking his biological mother would come back for him and taken him out of the foster care system for good. Only recently has he realized, she's not coming back.
"She made promises she would get me and never did," he says with sad eyes that are pooling with tears.
Jaleel is soft spoken and thoughtful about his words. I took him to Adventure Landing hoping to share lots of laughs with him, but I think what he needed was to cleanse his soul a bit.
He shared with me one of his biggest regrets and that was having to leave his last foster home because rough-housing with friends ended with a broken window. He feels the pressure of having to be perfect so mistakes won't mean another move. But it hurts.
"It's not a good feeling when you've been somewhere, get use to it, and then you have to leave. I've matured a lot since I left, I learned my lesson," he says.
My lesson for him, is we all make mistakes. You learn from it and then you forgive yourself. It's just what he needed to hear. The tears flowed and I offered him a big hug. He accepted.
Jaleel loves football and fishing. His favorite color is red and his favorite food is french fries. His biggest wish is adoption.
"It's important, if you don't have a family who's gonna love you besides you, and if you don't love yourself..."
I stepped in to fill in that blank for Jaleel. If you haven't learned to love yourself yet, there are angels who come into our lives to teach us how. Jaleel is hoping that angel is you.
