Corsicana — Rex Givens,
Age 54
Age 54
For Rex Givens, an abnormal situation that could have gone a number of directions had a terrific ending. And he ended up with a loving, extended family.
After his father left, his mother was having a hard time raising Rex and his two brothers and sister, all younger, in Tennessee. When he was 6, child welfare came in and took them.
Rex and the next youngest brother, David, went to one foster home, the other two to another. After a month, he entered a foster home with a family he would live with until he was adopted, at the age of 14.
“I consider them as much my real parents,” Givens said, “as my real parents. If not more. ...
“They set the basis for who I am today.”
Givens, 54, will be among the speakers at Thursday’s annual Heart Gallery event.
Under different circumstances, Givens said, his foster parents may have actually adopted him. But in Tennessee, at least at that time, foster parents could not adopt and continue to foster other children.
His adoptive family had four sons of their own before Rex and David joined the family. The youngest was a senior in high school, and to this day, he said they all consider one another brothers.
“As they began to have families, we were raised right there with them,” Givens said.
Over the years, he kept up with his other brother and sister, as well.
At 14, he and David were adopted by their paternal grandfather, and they moved to Chicago. Later in life, David moved to Texas, and Rex soon followed after moving back to Tennessee and finding a tough job market.
The two worked for the prison system, and Rex eventually earned his peace officer’s license and found Corsicana. Today, he and his wife of 27 years, Paula, have three sons of their own, including step-sons Paul Stanley and Jamie Seltzer. David Givens, 28, is named after his uncle.
The Givens brothers grew up in a foster home 60 miles from their mother, and would get to spend Christmases with her, thanks to his foster parents.
Rex said on a trip some 10 to 15 years ago, he and David decided to go back to the home they spent nearly eight years in.
“We pulled into the house and wanted to take some pictures of the house,” Rex said, “and my brother got out. I guess it looked a little odd.
“This little old lady walked out the front door. And I said, ‘I guess we’d better tell her what we’re doing.’,” Rex recalled. “She pointed and said, ‘You’re Rex, and you must be David.’”
It was his foster mother, whom he had seen once since 1971.
“We had wrote her letters,” Rex said, “but we had never thought to send pictures.
“We had a nice little reunion.”
After his father left, his mother was having a hard time raising Rex and his two brothers and sister, all younger, in Tennessee. When he was 6, child welfare came in and took them.
Rex and the next youngest brother, David, went to one foster home, the other two to another. After a month, he entered a foster home with a family he would live with until he was adopted, at the age of 14.
“I consider them as much my real parents,” Givens said, “as my real parents. If not more. ...
“They set the basis for who I am today.”
Givens, 54, will be among the speakers at Thursday’s annual Heart Gallery event.
Under different circumstances, Givens said, his foster parents may have actually adopted him. But in Tennessee, at least at that time, foster parents could not adopt and continue to foster other children.
His adoptive family had four sons of their own before Rex and David joined the family. The youngest was a senior in high school, and to this day, he said they all consider one another brothers.
“As they began to have families, we were raised right there with them,” Givens said.
Over the years, he kept up with his other brother and sister, as well.
At 14, he and David were adopted by their paternal grandfather, and they moved to Chicago. Later in life, David moved to Texas, and Rex soon followed after moving back to Tennessee and finding a tough job market.
The two worked for the prison system, and Rex eventually earned his peace officer’s license and found Corsicana. Today, he and his wife of 27 years, Paula, have three sons of their own, including step-sons Paul Stanley and Jamie Seltzer. David Givens, 28, is named after his uncle.
The Givens brothers grew up in a foster home 60 miles from their mother, and would get to spend Christmases with her, thanks to his foster parents.
Rex said on a trip some 10 to 15 years ago, he and David decided to go back to the home they spent nearly eight years in.
“We pulled into the house and wanted to take some pictures of the house,” Rex said, “and my brother got out. I guess it looked a little odd.
“This little old lady walked out the front door. And I said, ‘I guess we’d better tell her what we’re doing.’,” Rex recalled. “She pointed and said, ‘You’re Rex, and you must be David.’”
It was his foster mother, whom he had seen once since 1971.
“We had wrote her letters,” Rex said, “but we had never thought to send pictures.
“We had a nice little reunion.”
John McClung,
Age 68
Age 68
When he learned at 8 years old he had been adopted, John McClung went on about his life, living his childhood and not thinking too much about where he came from.
Adopted at a month old, the parents who raised him where the only parents he’d ever known. The subject never made for awkward moments, but it did come up from time to time.
“As a 12-year-old, I figured my fate in life was to be bald,” McClung said recently. “Everbody member of my family had male pattern baldness.
“Then I realized, ‘Your adopted. You’re not going to be bald.’”
McClung, now 68 and a Corsicana city councilman, will be one of the speakers at Thursday night’s Heart Gallery.
“I was terribly spoiled,” said McClung, an only child who said his mother once told him they were considering adopting more ... then he turned 2.
In sixth grade, he had his mother for class at Lee Elementary. After school, he’d go home to the family farm and work with his dad.
Adopted from the Gladney Home in Fort Worth as an infant, the thought of finding his biological parents never hounded him. He had always heard his father was killed in World War II, something he’d later find out wasn’t true. His mother told his wife Gladney Home officials had told her McClung’s biological mother was one “of the most sincere, caring people they had ever had” at the home.
As an adult, McClung moved to Tulsa for 34 years, returning in 2003. Today, he is “semi-retired,” and runs a business in Dallas with his son, Chris. He also has a daughter, Carin Palmer, who lives in Denver with her three children.
McClung remains a supporter of adoption, and even had two opportunities to advocate on behalf of it recently.
In one instance, a couple of friends were about to adopt a mixed-race child and were talking about hard times ahead that the child could have as a result.
“I told them the kid was not going to have a problem unless they showed him the problems,” McClung said.
“‘Show him love, and none of that will be a problem,’” he told them.
In another, an attorney friend was saying a family that wanted to adopt wanted to block the child from looking for his biological parents in the future.
“I told him I had a real problem with that,” McClung said. “If their bond is strong enough, it will not make a difference.”
He should know. Later in his life, McClung did go to the Gladney Home to try to find out more about his biological mom, but it turned up little.
“My parents,” he said, “where my parents.”
Adopted at a month old, the parents who raised him where the only parents he’d ever known. The subject never made for awkward moments, but it did come up from time to time.
“As a 12-year-old, I figured my fate in life was to be bald,” McClung said recently. “Everbody member of my family had male pattern baldness.
“Then I realized, ‘Your adopted. You’re not going to be bald.’”
McClung, now 68 and a Corsicana city councilman, will be one of the speakers at Thursday night’s Heart Gallery.
“I was terribly spoiled,” said McClung, an only child who said his mother once told him they were considering adopting more ... then he turned 2.
In sixth grade, he had his mother for class at Lee Elementary. After school, he’d go home to the family farm and work with his dad.
Adopted from the Gladney Home in Fort Worth as an infant, the thought of finding his biological parents never hounded him. He had always heard his father was killed in World War II, something he’d later find out wasn’t true. His mother told his wife Gladney Home officials had told her McClung’s biological mother was one “of the most sincere, caring people they had ever had” at the home.
As an adult, McClung moved to Tulsa for 34 years, returning in 2003. Today, he is “semi-retired,” and runs a business in Dallas with his son, Chris. He also has a daughter, Carin Palmer, who lives in Denver with her three children.
McClung remains a supporter of adoption, and even had two opportunities to advocate on behalf of it recently.
In one instance, a couple of friends were about to adopt a mixed-race child and were talking about hard times ahead that the child could have as a result.
“I told them the kid was not going to have a problem unless they showed him the problems,” McClung said.
“‘Show him love, and none of that will be a problem,’” he told them.
In another, an attorney friend was saying a family that wanted to adopt wanted to block the child from looking for his biological parents in the future.
“I told him I had a real problem with that,” McClung said. “If their bond is strong enough, it will not make a difference.”
He should know. Later in his life, McClung did go to the Gladney Home to try to find out more about his biological mom, but it turned up little.
“My parents,” he said, “where my parents.”
Sixth Annual Heart Gallery
Thursday, 5 to 7 p.m.
Cook Center at Navarro College
Photos of many foster children
available for adoption, speeches from adoptive parents and former adoptees, including John McClung and Rex Givens
Did you know:
• In 2011, 17 children from Navarro County were adopted
• More than 5,500 statewide are available for adoption
Sponsored by Child Advocates of Navarro County’s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
and the Child Welfare Board
Thursday, 5 to 7 p.m.
Cook Center at Navarro College
Photos of many foster children
available for adoption, speeches from adoptive parents and former adoptees, including John McClung and Rex Givens
Did you know:
• In 2011, 17 children from Navarro County were adopted
• More than 5,500 statewide are available for adoption
Sponsored by Child Advocates of Navarro County’s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
and the Child Welfare Board
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