A Loving Touch

Each morning, Linda Morphis gets up before sunrise to care for her family. She feeds her children and walks a few of them to the school bus, but her day is just beginning.

Linda has raised special needs foster children for the last 20 years. By her estimate, she's taken care of 50 children, not counting the three of her own. Many of them are severely impaired and required constant attention, and a few have passed away because of their conditions. But this hasn't dampened Linda's spirit.

Linda houses eight children under her roof, three of whom are unable to walk or speak. The Morphis family recently remodeled their house, adding a large activity room with special beds for the three children to sleep in, and a hospital shower to make bathing them easier. Each day they are visited by physical therapists, caseworkers, technicians and teachers to assist in giving her children, and she always refers to them as "her children" the best care they can get.

Linda doesn't bother locking the door during the day. "People who know us don't knock," she said, "They just come in."

Physical therapist Sarah Austin has been making weekly visits to the Morphis house for three years. She said that the Morphis family's dedication is admirable.

"She loves these kids," Austin said, "They treat them like their own."

The family's special needs don't prevent them from traveling. Each summer the Morphis family pack into an 18-seat van, complete with a trailer packed with medical supplies and wheelchairs, and takes a vacation to Linda's parent's house in Indiana. Linda calls the yearly trip "our adventure."

Linda said the last 20 years haven't changed her. She believes that she was always meant to do what she does. Linda says she wouldn't trade her life for anything.

"I like my hectic life," she said. "I can run circles around 20-year-olds."