MOTHER, ALAN, AS THE CROWD CHEERED AND THEIR MOTHER LOOKED ON. GORDON BURRELL AND DENNIS PARKER TOOK THAT WALK ACROSS THE STAGE TO COLLECT THEIR DIPLOMAS FROM NEWTOWN HIGH SCHOOL. I FEEL GOOD. I’M GETTING OUT OF SCHOOL. I BROUGHT ME IN. SHE MADE SURE WE HEARD EVERY DIME THEY SHOW. HE WAS IN SCHOOL WITHOUT HER, IT WILL BE GRADUATION. THEIR MOTHER, CECELIA MCFADDEN, TOOK THEM IN AS FOSTER CHILDREN. PARKER WHEN HE WAS A WEEK OLD, AND BURRELL AT THE AGE OF TWO. A COUPLE OF YEARS LATER, SHE ADOPTED THEM. THEY CREDIT MCFADDEN WITH PUSHING THEM. YOU GOT HIM OUT. BUT EVERY DAY, I DON’T KNOW. SHE SHE ALWAYS TOLD YOU THE RIGHT THINGS TO DO. MCFADDEN HAS FOSTERED 15 CHILDREN ADOPTED THREE AND HAS TWO BIOLOGICAL CHILDREN. WHEN YOU GET THEM SO YOUNG, YOU GET ATTACHED TO THEM. YOU DON’T WANT TO TAKE THEM BACK. SO BURRELL FACED THE ADDED CHALLENGE OF HAVING SEVERE HEARING LOSS. HE WAS BULLIED AND CALLED NAMES AT SCHOOL. I HONESTLY, WITHOUT THE MOTHER OF ALL THE LIKE, JUST GOING INTO FOSTER CARE AND EVERY DAY I LIKE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN MESSED UP, PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE STREET MAYBE SELLING DRUGS, A LOT OF OTHER STUFF. SHE’S THERE, YOU KNOW, SHE WAS ALL SHE WAS TO PROTECT THE CAREGIVER. SHE MADE SURE, YOU KNOW, NO MATTER WHAT, WE NEVER LOOK DOWN ON OURSELVES. WE’RE LOSING TOO MANY MALES IN THE STREET, TOO MANY. I SAID YOU ALREADY HAVE TWO THINGS GOING WRONG FOR YOU RIGHT NOW. YOU’RE BLACK AND YOU’RE MALE. I SAID, YOU NEED THAT EDUCATION. AND I SAID, IF YOU GET THAT EDUCATION, NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM YOU. AS LONG AS YOU CAN READ AND WRITE AND COUNT, YOU’RE GOING TO BE OKAY. YOU CAN MAKE IT THE NEXT CHAPTER. BURRELL IS OFF TO STUDY MUSIC IN COLLEGE AND PARKER LEARNING A
2 adopted brothers graduate thanks to love from mother
Updated: 8:41 PM EDT Jun 6, 2023
Two teens who were born into difficult situations are making their mark on the world thanks to a generous mother.Brothers Dennis Parker and Gordon Burrell are graduating from New Town High School in Baltimore County, Maryland. Their mother, Cecelia McFadden, helped them get ready for the big day. She took them in as foster children — Parker when he was a week old and Burrell at the age of 2.A few years later, she adopted them both. They credit McFadden with pushing them, even when they acted out."You got on my butt every day. I don't know, she always told the right things to do," Parker said.Burrell faced the added challenge of having severe hearing loss. He was bullied and called names at school."She brought me in and made sure we had everything. Without her, there would be no graduation," Burrell said of his mom.McFadden has fostered 15 children, adopted three and has two biological children."You get them so young, you get attached to them, you don't want to take them back," said McFadden.Burrell said his life could have been very different without McFadden."My life probably would've been messed up. I probably would've been in the streets, selling drugs, a lot of other stuff. She's there. She was the protector, the caregiver," Burrell said."We are losing too many males in the streets," McFadden said. "I said, 'You already have two things going wrong for you right now: You're Black and you're male.' I said, 'You need that education.' I said, 'If you get that education, no one can take that away from you. As long as you can read and write and count, you're going to be OK, You can make it.'"Burrell is off to study music in college, while Parker plans to learn a trade.
Two teens who were born into difficult situations are making their mark on the world thanks to a generous mother.
Brothers Dennis Parker and Gordon Burrell are graduating from New Town High School in Baltimore County, Maryland.
Their mother, Cecelia McFadden, helped them get ready for the big day. She took them in as foster children — Parker when he was a week old and Burrell at the age of 2.
A few years later, she adopted them both. They credit McFadden with pushing them, even when they acted out.
"You got on my butt every day. I don't know, she always told the right things to do," Parker said.
Burrell faced the added challenge of having severe hearing loss. He was bullied and called names at school.
"She brought me in and made sure we had everything. Without her, there would be no graduation," Burrell said of his mom.
McFadden has fostered 15 children, adopted three and has two biological children.
"You get them so young, you get attached to them, you don't want to take them back," said McFadden.
Burrell said his life could have been very different without McFadden.
"My life probably would've been messed up. I probably would've been in the streets, selling drugs, a lot of other stuff. She's there. She was the protector, the caregiver," Burrell said.
"We are losing too many males in the streets," McFadden said. "I said, 'You already have two things going wrong for you right now: You're Black and you're male.' I said, 'You need that education.' I said, 'If you get that education, no one can take that away from you. As long as you can read and write and count, you're going to be OK, You can make it.'"
Burrell is off to study music in college, while Parker plans to learn a trade.
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