CARLTON & EMILY BURTON INTERVIEW

Singer: You will always be Mom and Dad to me. 
Howard Hendrick: Good afternoon, I'm Howard Hendrick.
I'm the Director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
And with me, I have Carlton and Emily Burton who live in Enid, Oklahoma.
And Carlton and Emily have six children of their own
and they've adopted two, and they're fixing to adopt a third child.
So tell us how you got involved with foster care and adoption.
Emily Burton: Well, Taylor, our first one that we adopted, I was friends with her mom. 
And when things didn't go well with her mom, she came to be with us permanently.
I kind of was her adopted mother anyway,
just not legally until we got involved with DHS. So...
And so it started out really as a kinship foster home and then she became permanent.
Howard Hendrick: And how old is she?
Emily Burton: She's eight.
Howard Hendrick: And then you picked up another child shortly after that?
Tell me about that...
Emily Burton: They called me and asked me if I would.
They told me the story and when I heard the story, I could not say no.
(laughs)
And so I called them up and said,"you can't tell me no,"
and it's funny, a week, about two weeks before I got the call,
I went out and bought a bed, just out of the blue for no reason.
I didn't have a need for it, but I bought it. 
So... and then when that came, I told them,
"you can't say no, it's just destined to be."
So, that's how she became...
Howard Hendrick: And then you have a third daughter in waiting here?
Emily Burton: Yes.
Howard Hendrick: So when we're through with this next adoption you'll have a total 
of how many daughters? Five?
Emily Burton: I have five daughters.
Howard Hendrick: Five daughters?
Carlton Burton: Five daughters.
Howard Hendrick: Five weddings?
Carlton Burton: (laughs) Yes.
Howard Hendrick: You've obviously changed the lives of these children that you're involved with.
Carlton Burton: We believe we have. We are a very conservative family.
And we believe in old-fashioned family values.
We make friends with our kids, we always have.
They're free to come and talk to us about anything. 
We do things, I'm an old fuzzy buzz. I get on the floor.
I give piggy-back rides to the smallest kid. I've always done that.
When a parent can be a friend to a child and even when you're wrong,
if your child knows you're wrong, you say,
"Well, you know, Daddy made a mistake. I apologize."
That goes far-reaching in that child's demeanor and they trust you more
and they come to you and express themselves in any way possible.
And that's what we try to instill in all our kids,
and these two, they've come a long way, but we have a loving home and we love kids. 
And as my wife mentioned before, we always wanted quite a few kids.
We have five, six of our own, but had no idea we were going to go into adoption
but it's been very gratifying.
Howard Hendrick: Emily, you said you always wanted to have a family with ten kids. You got to nine...
Emily Burton: Yes, I got to nine.
Howard Hendrick: So can we count on you for at least one more foster child?
Emily Burton: It would be up to him. (laughs) 
Because I can take a house full and never ever have an empty nest.
Carlton Burton: She sure could. She sure could.
Howard Hendrick: Now, you guys have changed the lives of these children, 
but talk about how these children have changed you.
How have they changed you personally? What's happened with that?
Carlton Burton: Well, I'll be honest. I have gained more patience, number one.
You have to have patience with them.
You have children come from a different lifestyle, different mindset.
They come in and, in order to have them acclimate and become a part of your family,
you have to open your arms and really do what you have to do 
to have that child become a part of your family.
And if it's more patience, that's what you do.
And we found out being patient, being loving, being firm, kids got to know they can trust you.
And that's what we've tried to do with these kids - instill that trust in them,
and so far, it's been successful.
Howard Hendrick: So why do you do this?
Emily Burton: And for me, I know I have a lot of love to give and they're teaching me 
how to give that love unconditionally, and be able to take the knocks 
and keep on going and keep giving that love, so they've really changed our lives.
We were at the point where our oldest one was leaving home.
It was time to retire, but we're not going to retire (laughs)
and they keep us young, so...
Howard Hendrick: You do this mostly just out of the love you have to give for these kids.
It's that simple, isn't it?
Carlton Burton: Yeah, it is.
Emily Burton: Anyone that's even thinking about adoption, that means they have love 
in their heart for a child, so... because it takes a lot of love.
Carlton Burton: We've had another family in our church that is starting to adopt several kids.
So it's starting to spread a little bit. That's a good thing.
Howard Hendricks: That's a good thing. We need more love in our world.
Carlton Burton: We really do. We really do.
Howard Hendricks: Thank you for, not just adopting these children and spending this time,
but for the love you exhibit to Enid, Oklahoma and the love you distribute to our whole state.
We're very grateful for the huge contribution you've made not only to these kids, 
but to all the folks who see this. So blessings to you.
Emily & Carlton Burton: Thank you.
Emily Burton: We're glad to be a part of it.
Singer: You will always be Mom and Dad to me.