Jayniah

Jayniah, the 8-year-old sister to Jayoni, has grown up in a home where love stretches wide enough to hold joy and heartbreak at the same time. As a godchild of the Espino family and a witness to their years of fostering and adoption, she has seen more tenderness, more courage, and more goodbyes than most kids her age ever have to face. She says she absolutely loves all the kiddos who have come through their door, every baby, every sibling group, every little soul who needed a soft place to land. She’s learned how to swaddle newborns, soothe sad or sick babies, share her space and her heart, and how to say goodbye when it’s time for them to go home.

Some goodbyes stay with you forever. She remembers when they had to say goodbye to their Maria baby, the way everybody cried, and how they still do sometimes. But she also remembers feeling thankful, because Maria is now with her family and her siblings, surrounded by people who love her. “We’re happy for that,” she says. “And I’m thankful we got to be her first siblings.”

Alongside the emotional ups and downs of fostering, Jayniah has also had her own journey. When she was younger, normal childhood colds and ear infections always seemed to settle in her chest. Breathing treatments became familiar, and wheezing became a warning sign no one in her family ever took lightly. By age 5 or 6, a pulmonologist officially diagnosed her with asthma. Most days it is managed and controlled, but there have been moments of respiratory distress. Moments that shake everyone. Still, she holds onto hope, saying that one day she knows she’ll grow out of it. Until then, prevention, caution, and prayer stay close at hand.

But asthma is only a tiny chapter of who she is. The rest of her is strong, vibrant, independent, and beautifully “spicy,” as her family lovingly calls her. She’s a natural leader who dreams of becoming a teacher one day. Until then, she practices in her cul-de-sac, hosting her own class for neighborhood kids after school, and loves reading to students in the special-needs classroom at her school. She adores playing with her sisters, whether they’re splashing at the beach, hiking somewhere warm and green, or jumping on the family trampoline. Of course, they argue and tattle, because sisters do that, but underneath it all is a fierce, unwavering love.

Her favorite moments often happen at home: doing nails with her mom, helping work on the truck, or riding with Papa to McDonalds. Little things that aren’t little at all. Because in this family, love isn’t just spoken, it’s lived, shared, stretched, and multiplied.

“We have a big family with big love,” she says. And if you ask anyone who knows them, they’ll tell you: she’s absolutely right.