St. Clotilde (475 to 545)

"What do you mean Maria was adopted?" I asked my mother about my very best childhood friend when I was 8-years-old. "Why would someone give her away?"
During the day, Maria and I were playing in my yard with our dolls and we were pretending they were our "babies." Her aunt, who lived next door, overheard the conversation. A few hours later, she called my parents and said that she heard me say something to Maria about when she was a baby.
My mother told Maria's aunt that I didn't know she was adopted, however I learned about it that night. My mother must have thought it was the appropriate time to tell me.
I was so young that the topic was hard for me to grasp.
To me, Maria's adoptive parents were her real parents and it was never discussed again.
The one thing that sticks out in my mind was the first day of fifth grade. Our teacher, Mr. Thomas, asked if anyone in our class was adopted. Maria raised her hand and said she was.
"Maria, you're very special because your parents chose you," he said.
I've heard stories about adopted children having problems. Whether that's true, it was not the case with Maria. She excelled in school and became a pharmacist.
St. Clotilde is the patron saint of adopted children. She was born in Lyon, France in 475 to King Chilperic II of Burgundy and his wife Caretena. In 493, she married Clovis, King of the Franks and they had several children.
After becoming a widow, St. Clotilde spent the rest of her years caring for the sick and poor. She died in 545 at Tours and her feast day is June 3.