From the Detroit Free Press:Mable Fox made herself a promise: If she wasn't married when she turned 40, she would adopt a child. "And I'd make a family," she said.
In 1993, Fox was about to do just that through Methodist Children's Home Society in Redford Township.
"I had gone to see the baby," she said. "I went out and shopped for a crib and clothes. I held the baby. I asked all the questions. The time period from which the mother could change her mind had just ended. My caseworker called and ... said, 'The mother changed her mind.' "
Fox could have fought to keep the child, but she didn't. "My perspective was, this was this lady's baby. ... She has the right to change her mind. This was her baby."
Still, Fox of Farmington Hills was devastated: "I cried, I cried, I cried, I cried."
After the grieving was done, Fox told her caseworker: "Go out and find me a baby no one wants."
That's when she was paired with a premature baby whose mother had a substance-abuse problem. Fox was convinced that she could help the child, and she adopted 4-month-old Malik.
Three years later, the agency approached her with another baby boy. And Fox couldn't say no. She adopted Mikal when he was 2 1/2 months old.
Her sons have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In addition, Mikal has a learning disability.
"Sometimes, people ask me, why did I adopt boys," Fox said. "I consider African-American boys to be the underdog in this society. I've made a very strong commitment that these boys will do well. They will be strong and compassionate men."
Malik, 13, is now in the seventh grade at Warner Middle School. Mikal, 10, is in the fourth grade at Highmeadow Elementary School.
"Both of my kids are in special education, and they are brilliant," said Fox, 56.
They both passed the Michigan Educational Assessment Program tests last year.
She discovered that Malik and Mikal do best with structure and rewards. So she gives them a list of tasks each day.
"If they wash their hands, wash their face, put on their clothes, they receive 20 extra minutes of TV time or game time in the afternoon," Fox said. "I think youngsters who are ADHD, when there is a lot of structure and sequence with an expectation, they do fairly well."
She also credits the team approach to education at Farmington Public Schools. The boys have the help of a resource teacher, a speech therapist, a social worker and an occupational therapist.
But Patricia Pomaranski, a resource teacher for the district, said Fox plays no small part in their achievement.
"Mable Fox is an extraordinary mom," Pomaranski said. "She is a gift from heaven for these two boys."
Fox learned how to be a parent from her own parents. Her father, Frank Edward Fox, worked a blue-collar job at Ford Motor Co. Her mother, Lillie Mae Fox, cleaned houses. Mable Fox was the oldest of their three girls.
"We were kind of like the black Ozzie and Harriet of the world," Mable Fox said. "We had dinner together every night. We sat down and ate and talked about our day."
Neither of her parents advanced beyond the sixth grade, but they stressed education.
"On days when I did not want to go to school, my mother made me clean houses with her," Fox said. "She told me, 'This is honest work, but I want you to be more than what I am.' "
Fox graduated from the University of Michigan-Dearborn with a degree in political science.
When she was laid off in January from her job as a sales representative in the textbook publishing industry, Fox formed a small company called Achievement Groups LLC (www.theachievementgroup.net). She now sells educational products and services to help other parents of special-needs kids.
"I've never met someone who gives so much of her heart and compassion to everything she does," said Latricia Hemphill, 36, who lives with Fox and the boys. Fox helped raise Hemphill, her second cousin. "I love her to death. She has taught me to persevere. More importantly, she has taught me to love."
Fox is more than a single mother. She also has adopted her neighborhood.
"What is also amazing is the fact that despite her daily challenges, she has been an outstanding neighborhood volunteer for years," said Jackie Boleware, president of the Timbercrest Condominium Association.
Fox plans events for the association as its social chair and vice president.
"The economy is bad," Fox said. "Family outings are one of the first things to go. Our theme this year is family outings in the neighborhood."
Family. That's the one constant in Fox's life.
"I believe this world can be a better place one family and one community at a time," Fox wrote in an e-mail. "My Mother's Day wish to your readers is that we all become more engaged and volunteer in our communities, become a mentor to a youngster on your block. Adopt a child."
