After five years of marriage and three miscarriages, we decided to start the journey of adoption. We checked with many agencies and decided to go with Mississippi Children’s Home Society in Jackson, Mississippi. We had all the necessary meetings, forms, letters, home visits, and we were waiting for our last meeting with our case worker. She called and set up a meeting for us to be in Jackson on February 10, 1968.
We were very excited to get this last meeting done and then wait for that day when we could get our baby! We met with our case worker, and there were general questions and conversation. Then she said, “Well, I just can’t wait any longer. W-E H-A-V-E A B-A-B-Y F-O-R Y-O-U T-O S-E-E!” Excitement and fear really set in. She told us about him. He was two months and ten days old. The case worker left us to talk together about it. While she was gone out of the room, James said, “Two months and ten days old, that’s around my birthday.” When the case worker came back into the room, James asked her when this baby was born, and she said November 30. James said, “We’ll take him; he was born on my birthday.”
They took us into a room with a bassinet set in the middle and brought the baby in. He was the most beautiful baby we had ever seen. He did not cry and smiled when he saw us. We held him and looked at him for a while, and then they told us to go and get something to eat. (That was funny; we could not seem to get anything down!) We came back and they had him ready for us. He slept most of the way home and would just smile when he woke up.
We did not have anything ready at home for a baby. We had been waiting for that last meeting and then would start getting the room ready. We called home to tell the news, and my mother and sisters got everything ready for the baby. When we got home, the house was filled with family, friends and church family.
That was February 10, 1968. We named our new son Kevin Lamar Thorne. We had that name picked out for many years.
Kevin was a very good, happy baby, and we were very happy. It didn’t take us long to see and learn that he was a very smart boy, of course! He went to kindergarten, and we were told how smart he was. In the first grade, he read all the books in the room, and they let him go to the library, which was not done for first graders. Every grade we were told how smart he was; we were so proud, but then his intelligence started to work against him. He had the idea that since he knew whatever his class was studying, he did not have to put it down on paper! This went on from 6th grade until he graduated, and we wondered if he would graduate.
Kevin loved to read better than anything. He would slip books to school and read when he was supposed to be listening. He wanted to go to college and study the things he wanted to study. He got a big scholarship for making a great score on his ACT test. We got him all set up at Mississippi State. He chose his courses. We got him his meal ticket, and we thought he was all set. Well, he just stayed in his room or in the library and read and ate on his meal tickets. He knew when he came home at the end of the semester that we would not send him back.
He moved back home, then went to Jackson and joined the Army. He called us from there and told us what he had done. He served three years, most of that time in Germany. I guess that is when we started losing Kevin. He seemed to just forget he had a family back home. He did let us know when he was coming home. He got a job locally and lived at home with us for several years; then he was transferred to Jackson. He was never the same after going to Jackson. He got involved with the wrong kind of people and worked in Jackson for several years.
There was a period of over eight years that we did not know where he was or if he was alive, but he did come back, and we got to see him in 2014. I was able to chat with him on Facebook.
He moved to Horn Lake, Mississippi, worked at Home Depot, and loved his job. I was very proud of him, and he seemed to finally be happy and love what he was doing.
The end of the story is that we got a phone call at 6:48 the afternoon of March 7, 2017, that Kevin had been killed in a horrible accident. He was riding his bike home from work at Home Depot after the late shift and was hit from behind and killed instantly. This was horrible news that just knocked us completely down. Nothing can prepare you for news like that about your child.
Although we had many challenges, heartaches and trials with Kevin, I find comfort in knowing that he was meant for us and was loved by us and his family. I’m thankful that we got that call that day from the adoption agency to come over and that we came home with that sweet baby boy.
I do not understand why Kevin had to go, but I know that God does not make mistakes. I know that I will see him again one day.
Bobbie Thorne
Oh Bobbie, you and James are two of the most wonderful Christian friends. Kevin knew how wonderful y’all were. So glad you had some time with him before God took him home. Love both of you!
I remember how happy everyone at church was when Kevin came into your life. He was such a sweet & happy little boy.
Thank you for sharing your adoption love story.
You are right about how smart he was. I had the pleasure of having Kevin in my Sunday School class for 3 years. It was a challenge to keep him interested . It worked best when I gave him some task to do. He was always always respectful and that was how you taught him. I remember when he and Jimmy were prayer partners in a men’s Bible study and would hear Jimmy praying with him over the phone . Kevin was not only loved by family, but by lots of others including me. Love you and am praying for you. Holidays are difficult .