Veteran Foster Mom Gets Special Surprise For Serving Her Country & Community

Crystal Blevins finally retired from the Marines and the National Guard after serving for more than 15 years.

She joined the Marines when she was just 19 years old, but her time serving was put on hold when she ended up having her first son two years later. She decided to move back home to Indiana, and eventually had a second child, making her a single mom of two.

Once the September 11 attacks happened, she was motivated to join the Indiana National Guard. She would serve in the National Guard for 14 years until she medically retired.

But once she was out of the military, she felt lost and like her sense of community was gone. She wanted to do something to make a difference in her community, and that’s when she decided to become a foster parent.

Five foster kids later, Blevins is now on the verge of permanently adopting one of them! The boy she is adopting is two-year-old Jude, who she has fostered since his mom passed away when he was just a newborn.

Being a single mom to one kid is hard enough, let alone five, but Blevins wouldn’t trade it for the world.

She says she owes a lot to her time in the military, passing on those skills she learned to her foster kids.

Her love and dedication as a foster mom has not gone unnoticed, so with the help of her family, friends, TODAY and their sponsors from Progressive, they pulled off a special surprise for Blevins.

Her family lives two hours away, so she never expected all of them to be there waiting for her. In addition to her family surprising her, Progressive gifted her a brand new SUV as part of their Keys to Progress program in support of veterans like her.

Her current vehicle is older and not equipped to drive far enough to visit her family, so now with her new car, she will be able to see them much more.

Blevins says once her adoption with Jude is finalized, she plans to foster more children.

Hear her story and watch her heartwarming surprise in the video below:

Provide Mammograms

Support those fighting Breast Cancer at The Breast Cancer Site for free! →