Foster children no more, this Escondido family celebrates its first Thanksgiving | Peter Rowe

The holidays were the worst. That’s not because Marissa and Chris Heintschel hated Thanksgiving or Christmas — far from it. Both raised in large Catholic families, they cherish having a full house, echoing with relatives’s chatter and children’s laughter, the air scented with the rich aromas of turkey and pie. Since 2016, though, these celebrations have had a desperate undertone. Each year, Chris would tell Marissa the same thing: “This is our last holiday with them. Let’s make it their best.” Three years ago, the Escondido couple became foster parents to two sisters suffering from physical abuse, malnutrition and a host of medical issues. Annalee, then 2, was coughing and sniffling when the Heintschels took her home. Her 9-month-old sister, Valerie, needed another five days in Rady Children’s Hospital. Burning with a 105-degree fever and only 12 pounds, the infant hadn’t the strength to lift her head. When the Heintschels finally retrieved her from the hospital, the foster mother tried to hug the baby. “She went stiff as a board,” Marissa said, “like she’d never been touched before.”