Grieving the Loss of Their Daughter, They Chose to Keep Fostering Hope
Kari Cox, a foster mom in Culloden, West Virginia, knows what it means to love hard—and lose harder. She and her husband, Bill, a special education teacher, have adopted and raised 14 children, many with special needs. Can you imagine the love and the chaos? For years, she lived the quiet miracle of motherhood: piles of laundry, sticky floors, giggles around the dinner table, and hugs that healed places no therapist ever could.
Her Heart Was Fostering and Loving Children
“She’s like Mother Teresa, almost,” one of her kids said.
“My mom does 99.9% of the work. My dad does 0.1,” another child said with a grin.
There’s truth tucked into their jokes. Even Bill admits, “Without Kari, everything would fall to pieces.”
Thirteen Years Ago They Adopted Maribeth
But even the strongest mothers fall apart sometimes. Thirteen years ago, Kari and Bill adopted Maribeth from China, a beautiful, brilliant girl with high-functioning autism and a black-and-white way of seeing the world.
“The first time she saw me,” Kari remembers, “she said, ‘Oh, I didn’t know I was getting a fat mom!’”
Kari laughed. “That was our relationship. And it was actually phenomenal.”
And it was. Maribeth thrived. She became valedictorian of her class, won countless math awards, and was chasing her dreams as a senior at Marshall University. Then came 2021.
Maribeth Was Killed in a Freak Accident
Maribeth was struck and killed by a car. A freak accident. A moment that shattered the Cox family.
Kari was undone.
“Why put yourself through that anymore?” she asked, speaking the unspeakable truth no mother wants to say aloud. “Honestly, people who don’t have children don’t have to feel this pain.”
They Didn’t Want to Put Themselves Through That Kind of Loss Again
She couldn’t imagine going through that kind of loss again. She had given her heart—and it was buried with her daughter.
So Kari decided she was done. No more adoptions. No more risk. No more room for more heartbreak.
Until one day, as she was going through Maribeth’s things, she found her daughter’s journal.
They Found Maribeth’s Words
Maribeth, the girl who rarely shared her feelings, had written these words to herself:
“God gave you what many may never have — a loving family that will always be here no matter what.”
And in that sacred moment, grief cracked wide open by grace, something shifted.
Kari stared at those words, and they stared back. They didn’t erase the pain, but they transformed it.
Maribeth Changed Them
They became a call.
“Maribeth changed us,” Kari said through tears. “She changed us.”
The daughter who Kari thought was her last adoption became the reason for more. Because that journal didn’t just change Kari’s heart—it changed her mission. It made room for hope again.
Since reading those words, Kari and Bill have welcomed four more children into their home, bringing their total to 14.
Why?
Their Need Was Greater
Because, as Kari now says, “Their need was greater than my pain.”
That’s the kind of love this world doesn’t often recognize. It’s not the loud, spotlighted, picture-perfect kind. It’s the sacrificial, laundry-laden, cry-in-the-shower kind of love. The kind that says, Even if I’m grieving, I will choose you.
As a mama of a child with autism myself, I understand what that kind of love looks like. It’s showing up when you’re empty. It’s being misunderstood. It’s celebrating every little win. It’s opening your heart even when you know it might break again.
Kari Took Pain and Made it Purposeful
But Kari? She shows us that sometimes the most broken places are where God plants the biggest miracles. She found a journal, and it changed the world for four more children who now know what home feels like.
Because that’s what mothers like Kari do, they take the pain, and they make it purposeful. They take the loss, and they let it teach them how to love even deeper.
And joy, it turns out, sometimes shows up with 14 kids, a basket of laundry, and a journal that reminds us: love is always worth the risk.
“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5
WATCH: Grieving the Loss of Their Daughter, They Chose to Keep Fostering Hope
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Originally published July 14, 2025.
