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SALT LAKE CITY — On the Wheeler Historic Farm you'll hear all the sounds you'd expect to hear, but you won't hear much from 13-year-old Takota. On Wednesday, the animal lover preffered to just take it all in.
"It takes you a minute to get in there and break him open and get his real personality, but when he lets you in, it's awesome," said foster parent Jessi Tueller.
Tueller know knows quite a bit about this little boy. She's been his foster parent for the past two years, but her home isn't the only one he's been in, not by a long shot.
"He knows that he goes from house to house," Tueller said.
Takota first entered the Utah Foster Care system when he was 4. When most kids are learning to ride a bike or play catch, Takota was learning to survive — and that's all he's known.
"When he's upset with us and he wants to leave our house he'll just say, 'Well when I get to next my next family...' " said Tueller.
Takota wants to be a farmer when he grows up, which is the main reason he chose to spend the day at the farm. And it was chickens that made him want to break the rules not so long ago at a neighbor's house.
"(Takota) got into their backyard and took one of their chickens and put it in his backpack and went to school," said Tueller. "I don't know how the teachers didn't notice there was a chicken in his backpack. She opens up the backpack and there is a chicken and now it's free and it was all over the parking lot."
The chicken was OK, and Takota will have a good story to tell. But first, he's hoping someone will read this story and want to welcome him into their family.
"He's such a good kid," said Tueller. "He's got so much potential. He just needs a chance."
If you would like to learn more about Takota or the many other Utah children living in foster care, contact The Adoption Exchange.
