Life
Marine walks into classroom to tell brothers they’re leaving foster care
"Are you ready to come home with me?"
Jessica Adler
10.15.20

They say that serving your country is a noble profession, yes, that is absolutely true. But behind it is lots of compromises. Sadly, one of those is family.

Joining the military is never easy. You are required to leave your family and home. You will miss spending special occasions, moments that you should be there celebrating with them.

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Worse is when you get deployed, not only will you be thousands of miles away from your family but once you leave, going back home is no longer guaranteed.

While some are given choices about whether or not to join the military, there are also some people who don’t have “NO” as an option.

They are doing it because they need to pay bills, be able to go to school, and put food on their plates. Those who were able to finish service are already heroes in the making and we can’t thank them enough for what they are willing to do for the country.

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To give back the love, Mediocrefilms’ Greg Benson decided to give Melissa, a 21-year-old Marine, some help.

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YouTube/MediocreFilms

Melissa is just one of the many brave young folks who are signing up for military service.

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She had lived a not so great childhood, and she knew that joining the military would help patch that up.

According to her, it’s a way for her to learn discipline and structure that she didn’t get to learn when she was still young.

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She’s burning with so much determination.

This young Marine has been facing challenges since childhood. While for some kids moving from one school to another is tough on its own, Melissa had to move to different foster homes.

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She has two younger brothers, JJ and Christian.

She loves them both very much. Sadly, they had been separated for quite some time because of life’s predicaments.

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YouTube/MediocreFilms

Her mother didn’t fully agree with Melissa adopting her siblings.

She also shared that her mother tested positive for methamphetamine in her system and this was just one of the many reasons why she’d like to earn custody of her brothers.

Even more tragic was that JJ and Christian were stuck in a foster home.

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There is no doubt about the love that she has for her younger brothers. However, her age (21) might just get in her way of earning sole custody over them.

She’s young and she’s still financially unstable, despite her military service. In fact, she’s already struggling just to pay rent.

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Despite all the hurdles, Melissa was still determined to bring her brothers home.

After all, they are going to be in better hands for sure if they get to live with their older sister.

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YouTube/MediocreFilms

She had to convince the court but before she could even do that, she needed to drive all the way to Alabama.

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That’s a three-day drive on the road! But it became possible with the help of her loyal friends. They wanted to be a part of something big for Melissa.

They knew how important this was to her and they believed that’s exactly what best friends are for.

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YouTube/MediocreFilms

Aside from her friends, Greg was also there to give her a helping hand.

Before they even drive their 2,000-mile course, he gave the girls an extra phone that they could use apart from the old phone that they’re already sharing together.

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YouTube/MediocreFilms

Of course, a three-day drive will make anyone hungry, so Greg and his crew went on a Trader Joe’s shopping spree to get them food to eat along their way. He also gave them a $500 prepaid card to pay for their gas!

You thought that’s everything?

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Remember the rent that we were talking about? That’s a total of $940 and it’s not cheap rent to pay, to be honest. To ease the burden of Melissa’s heavy load, Greg paid the rent in full!

Then the time came for her day in court.

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YouTube/MediocreFilms

They arrived in Alabama safe and sound. Melissa pleaded before the court for custody of her brothers and thankfully, the court agreed. It’s a victory not only for her but also for her brothers, her friends, and for Greg.

JJ and Christian would soon live in the best place on Earth – with their older sister, Melissa.

All that was left to do was to bring them home.

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YouTube/MediocreFilms

The reunion that they had been waiting for!

They went to the kids’ school. It had been 6 years when they last saw each other. It wasn’t only a reunion but also adoption and she was so excited to tell them the good news.

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YouTube/MediocreFilms

She found JJ first and pretty soon, tears started rolling down her cheeks.

JJ then stepped out of his classroom and led his sister to Christian’s classroom.

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As soon as he saw Melissa enter, he came rushing and gave her the warmest hug after 6 long years of being apart.

It’s indeed a beautiful picture of a family that kept believing that this day would eventually come. Thankfully, it did!

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YouTube/MediocreFilms

Then she asked them the ultimate question. The question that they had been longing to hear for the longest time.

“Are you ready to come home with me?”

Melissa fought a good battle not only in life alone but also with getting JJ and Christian home with her. She is a natural fighter, she’s a true hero in and out of the military camp.

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YouTube/MediocreFilms

Little did this young Marine know, another huge surprise was waiting not only for her but also for her siblings.

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YouTube/MediocreFilms

Greg wasn’t done, there’s another blessing coming Melissa’s way. With her two friends already sharing her home and her two brothers, they sure made a bigger family.

Greg expected a lot of catching up between Melissa and her siblings, and that means road trips, driving them to school and picking them up, or just a quick drive to the supermarket together with the two boys.

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With Toyota’s help, Greg blessed them with a new car, a brand new Toyota RAV-4!

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YouTube/MediocreFilms

And it didn’t stop there. To give them a totally fresh start, Toyota has already covered the vehicle service agreement and long-term factory service plan.

The tax, title, and license were already paid for too! We’re so glad that people like them exist.

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Was that too many blessings from a stranger like Greg? He is an incredible man and so is everyone who took part in making it possible. We are sure that one day, all the blessings will come back at them.

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YouTube/MediocreFilms

It’s definitely a brand new start for Melissa and her brothers. They get to unfold a new beautiful chapter of their lives.

This is a beautiful story about love for family, just like what David Ogden Stiers said in one of his famous quotes, “Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.”

Watch the video below to see how Melissa persevered in bringing her brothers home.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

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