A Cambuslang gran , who has fostered more than 40 children in 25 years, admits it breaks her heart every time she has to wave off a child to embark on their new life.
Liz King’s warmth, patience and, ultimately love, has transformed the lives of youngsters whose own parents have lost their way.
Liz was a 35-year-old lone parent bringing up two daughters back in 1993 when she asked her mum why a neighbour always seemed to have different children.
When it was explained that the neighbour was a foster carer, it prompted Liz to respond to an advert in the Rutherglen Reformer appealing for people to come forward to foster and adopt.
After going through the application process, Liz welcomed into the family home a four-year-old boy – a departure from normal family life which her daughters Angela, then 11, and nine-year-old Michelle took in their stride.
“It was nerve-racking, because he was my first and you know he is not yours and you wonder how you’ll manage,” remembers Liz.
“He was with me for two years. He was nearly seven when he left to go to Barnardo’s in Dunfermline.
That little boy may have been challenging, but the experience only made Liz more determined to make a difference to the lives of children.
After providing respite care to a brother and sister, a six-year-old girl was next to become part of Liz’s family, of which her loving partner, Willie Loughrie, was now at the heart.
That little girl, who was with them until she was 17, stands alongside sisters Michelle and Angela in a picture on the wall of Liz’s Woodlands Crescent home, which pays testimony to how much a part of the family she became.
It is among many framed photos of children who have been lovingly nurtured by Liz and Willie.
“I love the fact that I am helping a child move on and get over some of their wee problems.
“It is not nice to see them coming in with burdens. But you witness them changing and gaining the confidence they never had,” said Liz, who is soon to become a great grandmother.
“I have had a few babies come to me with withdrawal symptoms from drugs and wee ones who are hard to reach – totally withdrawn.
“I started fostering when I was 35 and said I’d give it until I was 40. I’m 61 now and still doing it. I can’t imagine a time when I won’t.
“In the early days, someone told me that I would reach a stage when I wouldn’t want babies.
Liz’s daughter, Angela, followed her mum’s example and was a foster carer for eight years, almost always for babies.
Even after 25 years of caring for other people’s children as well as her own, saying goodbye to a child who is moving on to a new chapter still cuts Liz up.
“It is heart breaking. You know you are working towards it and they are eventually going to go,” said Liz.
“I am not too bad until I am doing their ironing, packing their bag, knowing that is them away.
“When they go out the door, I have a good cry. My lassies come up and we go out and do something to take our minds off it.
Sometimes, Liz’s apron strings are ties that children choose never to cut.
One boy, who came to her as a baby and was adopted by a local couple when he was aged three, is 19 now and visits her several times a week and calls her gran.
His visits became even more frequent when Liz’s partner of 20 years, Willie, sadly passed away last Christmas.
Liz is keen to emphasise the tremendous support she’s received from social worker Janice Heaslet, who has become a good friend and has been there whenever she needed her for two decades.
To those considering becoming a foster carer, Liz said: “Go for it. You might think you cannot do it, but you can.