page 1 - Mature Living in the Southeast

continued from page 32It has given our children andus a greater appreciation forwhat we have. It has affordedus the opportunity to touch thelives of children in difficultsituations,” is the reply thatboth Shelia and Robert statedwhen asked what has been theadvantage of keeping fosterchildren.They also stated the greatestdisadvantage of keeping thechildren is giving them up afteryou have had them for aperiod of time and learned tolove them as your own.Robert and Shelia said thehardest part of being foster parentsis trying to deal with birthparents.One of the greatest joys ofthe Taylors is being out aroundtown and having one of thechildren come up and hug theirnecks and show them picturesof their children.“Children today are starvedfor discipline and structure intheir life and as parents we arefailing them so much. Westrive to make sure that we aremaking their lives better thanours were. Parents do not realizethat they are robbing theirchildren of the ambition to succeedin life by doing this. Theydo not stop to think that qualitytime will mean more tothem than material things whenthey grow up,” is what theTaylors think is the worst problemthat parents are makingtoday in rearing children.The biggest differenceRobert and Shelia see in youthtoday than the way childrenwere in the days when theywere growing up is disrespectand being ungrateful for theopportunities they are given.Robert is the son of C. L.and Winford Stewart Taylor.He is a native of Bacon Countyand the brother of Peggy Peacock,Diane Crews, Gary L.Taylor and Larry C. Taylor.His current job is Fire Chiefof the Bacon/Alma Fire Departmentand EMS Director.His career started off workingin Bacon County as an EMTand firefighter. He later workedin Douglas, Baxley andHazlehurst before returning toBacon County. He was appointedas the head of the BaconFire Department and EMSDirector in 2008.He pointed out that thereare a lot of advantages withhaving a full-time Fire Departmentand EMS Department.Some of the advantages include:- Lower Insurance due to ahigher ISO (Insurance ServiceOffice) rating.- A better response time dueto more training being requiredfor full-time departments andpersonnel are always on duty;better trained personnel becausethey are on the job morehours to be trained.The greatest pride inRobert’s job comes when thedepartment is able to help protecta person’s life or theirproperty from being destroyed.The greatest sorrow is seeinga family lose everything theyhave in a fire or see someone,especially children or teens,lose their life in a fire or accident.Robert stated that whensomething happens, the entiredepartment is affected by theoutcome because the departmentis like a brotherhood. Hesaid, like brothers living together,someone is always pullingpranks and you walkaround the department lookingover your shoulder to see whatyou might be walking into.He recalled a funny prank34Mature Living Winter Edition