Bre Avery Zacharski
This 16-year-old boy was removed from his mom’s care three years ago, as she was struggling mentally, and it was deemed to be unsafe for him to continue living with his mom.
During his first year of foster care, it was hard as he moved from home to home quite frequently. He’s currently with amazing foster parents, and he’s hoping he can stay with them until he ages out of the system at 18.
His name is Ryder, and while his foster mom and dad haven’t said they exactly hate his name, he can tell that’s how they feel.
He has witnessed his foster mom cringe over his name in the past, and his foster parents also don’t love his middle name.
Sometimes, they attempt to say his name is Ryan, not Ryder, and they basically refer to him by his nickname, which is Ry.
“A month ago, they had asked me if I had ever considered changing my first name when I turn 18 to something more sophisticated sounding,” he explained.
“They even said Ryan could be an idea since it’s so close and they share a nickname. I told them I liked my names and didn’t ever think of changing them. They didn’t say anymore then, but a week later, they told me they had thought a lot about my future, and they worried my name would be something that holds me back.”
“My foster mom said it sounds so lewd when said fast, and they felt I deserved better than that. I told them it didn’t bother me, and I liked that my mom had chosen my name.”
The conversation ended, and he thought they were done discussing it, but a week ago, his foster parents wanted to talk about his name again.
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