If you managed to stumble upon 19-year-old Natalie Carson's Craiglist ad, you might think it was a joke.
Natalie posted an ad looking to rent a family in Colorado. It sounds strange but when you hear her story I think you'll be filled with compassion.
The ad was named "Young Female College Student looking to 'rent' family for birthday."
Natalie's birthday is coming up and all she wants, for the first time in her life, is a birthday where she can feel something we often take for granted: familial love.
A product of the foster system, she has never had the experience of a birthday party in her honor.
Foster kids need love, too, and love transcends the boundaries of anything biological. When I saw this family meet their adoptive kids for the first time, I was left in tears.
Natalie doesn't care who her temporary family is, as long as they show her the warmth missing from her life. She said she would even pay each person $8 just to have that experience.
“I just want one day that I can feel important and special, and like I matter even if I really don’t,” she wrote in the ad. “I have never had a good birthday so I figure why not this birthday.”
As a child in the system, Natalie faced more abuse than affection from her foster parents, constantly moving from home to home. Whenever her birthday would come up, she was filled with more dread than excitement.
“I usually just try to sleep through my birthday, and holidays too.”
Hear Natalie’s plea and see if anyone responded to her ad in the video below.
SHARE if you wish you could give Natalie a big hug from wherever you are.
