She Never Got to Say Thank You — Until Nearly 20 Years Later

May 4, 2026

Nearly two decades after a difficult childhood in foster care, one Arizona mother finally got the chance to say something she had carried in her heart for years: thank you.

And the woman she said it to never forgot her either.

Sarah and Barbara / Credit: 12News.com

Sarah Paul’s early life was filled with instability. She entered the foster care system around age 13, moving between shelters, group homes, and placements without much consistency or support. During one of the most uncertain seasons of her life, she was assigned a Child Protective Services caseworker named Barbara Daw-Sanders, someone Paul now credits with helping her change direction entirely.

“She was exactly what I needed,” Paul said. “She’s what made me not continue the cycle, not go down the same path as everyone else in my family.”

At a time when structure was hard to find, Daw-Sanders provided it. She set boundaries, held Paul accountable, and stepped in when it mattered most.

But it wasn’t just about rules. It was about care. One memory stands out above the rest: a Thanksgiving spent with Daw-Sanders and her family.

“I felt like I had a home, I felt like I had somebody that cared,” Paul said. “Felt like I had family, and that wasn’t something that I had.”

As life moved forward, the two eventually lost touch. Paul aged out of the system, became a mother at 17, and focused on raising her child and building a life of her own. Years passed, but the impact of that relationship never faded.

It all came rushing back when Paul found herself fiercely protecting her own teenage daughter during a difficult situation.

“All of the things that I started to do, to protect her and to stand up for her and to fight for her, was the same things that she did for me,” Paul said. “It hit me like I never told her, thank you.”

While preparing for her daughter’s graduation, Paul stumbled across an old scrapbook. Inside was a photo taken shortly after she gave birth at 17. Standing nearby in the hospital room was Daw-Sanders.

“You can see Barbara standing over top at the top of my head, almost as if, like, she was protecting me against anything and everything,” Paul said.

Determined to find her, Paul shared the photo and her story on Facebook, hoping someone might recognize the woman who had once meant so much to her. What happened next was something she didn’t expect. The post quickly spread, with hundreds of people joining in to help reconnect them.

“As I open my Facebook page, I have people forwarding her message to me,” Daw-Sanders said.

Eventually, someone made the connection.

“When I see the Facebook message on Messenger,” she said. “I said, ‘Sarah?’”

That one word reopened a bond nearly 20 years in the making.

“Just instantly, I got goose bumps and just… kind of word vomited a whole bunch of thank yous and appreciations,” Paul said.

As if the reunion wasn’t remarkable enough, the two soon realized they had been living just three miles apart.

“I’m so, so proud of her,” Daw-Sanders said. “For her to say, thank you for something that I just seen as second nature… it makes me feel appreciated.”

What started as a simple search for closure has turned into something much more meaningful. The two women are back in each other’s lives and already planning to spend future holidays together.