Perhaps you heard of the television series Eight is Enough or maybe the most recent reality show featuring the Duggar family, 19 Kids and Counting. But I’ll bet you have not heard of Michael and Sharon Piotrowski. If they were to have a reality TV show, it would be called 100+. Michael and Sharon Piotrowski had three children of their own: Deanna, Michelle, and Michael Jr. But they were given the blessed gift of loving over 100 foster children and adopting twelve of them. 

A number two lead pencil is the start of this incredible story. When these two pure hearts met, they were still in high school. Mike broke the Guinness Book of World Records for the number of pencils sharpened in a single year. He did this to catch a glimpse of one Sharon Yager because he thought she was the most beautiful creature on the face of the Earth. But before we get too far into their story, let us learn about who they were before they met. This will allow us to see how love can influence even the most broken heart.

Mike, who hails from the small community of Carrollton, a suburb of Saginaw, was born on March 15, 1943, to Frank and Seraphine (Burzyck) Piotrowski. At this time, the town of Carrollton was very much a Polish town and full of Polish teen gangs. Mike was not immune to this type of behavior as he and his four brothers (Frank, Tom, Jim, and John) all managed to get into their fair share of trouble around the community. Religion was not a big part of Mike’s surroundings while growing up in a tough neighborhood. His mom was always home, trying to make a good house for her sons and husband, while his dad, working his fingers to the bone to provide for his family,  allowed the boys to run where they wished.

Sharon was born in Midland and later moved to Saginaw. She was the daughter of Harry and Helen (Cornell) Yager. This family was built on and dedicated to their Christian faith. They were members of the Nazarene Church, which has strict rules regarding all facets of social interaction, including no dancing, alcohol, and other “deviant” behaviors. Sharon’s dad was a very strict disciplinarian and had rigid and fast rules for how she and her two brothers, Michael and James, would be raised. So, for Mike to fit into this family, he would have to make some significant changes. Sometimes Sharon wished that her father was not so strict and would allow her more freedom to do what she desired. 

I remember the first time I met Mike and Sharon. As I walked through the door, I remember Sharon grabbing me and hugging me so tightly.  Mike approached me, shook my hand, and said to his son Michael and a friend from school, “You could learn something from this grip.” As I stepped further into the house, I could feel God’s powerful presence in this house. I knew Mike had a big family, but I did not quite comprehend the enormous dynamics, and when I did, I was in complete awe of the size of their hearts.

I remembered meeting DeAnna, who went to school with my brother. Michelle was one year behind my sister in school. However, then I met some people that did not quite fit the profile of your prototypical Polish family. Meesha, twelve, was a foster child from Korea and Jason, eleven, was a foster child of Vietnamese descent, and Jeremy was ten. These three wonderful and well-mannered individuals were the first of twelve they would ultimately adopt over thirty years as foster parents. 

It was a marriage that almost did not happen! When Mike and Sharon got married, Mike was in the United States Navy at the start of the Vietnam War. He was stationed on the USS Hancock and was on many “cruises,” as they call it in the Navy, to the region of the world the United States was paying particular attention to for the security of South Vietnam. He was very concerned about his overall health and well-being as they traveled to this region, not knowing what would happen if the ship was attacked and he did not make it. They decided on their honeymoon not to consummate their marriage until he returned from his deployment, the most dangerous up to this point in his military service, to ensure there was no problem with her moving forward if he did not make it. 

After Mike’s service in Vietnam, their hearts quickly became entwined and became one as they began their lives together. They knew they wanted a big family. Little did they know what God had in store for them. Mike worked three jobs after he got out of the military, with General Motors being the longest employment. Sharon was a nurse who would work nights to accommodate Mike’s schedule, so the kids were never alone. Eventually, she became a stay-at-home mother as their family grew.

They decided to become foster parents because their hearts were so big, and their love for children was like an unquenchable thirst. After the foster children started coming, they worked even harder to ensure they could provide for their growing family. They could have chosen to forgo foster parenting and had an easy life. However, they realized what they were called to do at a very early stage in their marriage.

They would take any child that God meant them to have. Within the Saginaw foster care system ranks, they became known as the “go-to family.” When other families would say no, Mike and Sharon would make room for these “most precious gifts of God.” DeAnna and Michelle do not remember when this incredible couple ever turned down the chance to love another innocent child, even if it meant a significant sacrifice of their time and resources.  

Before I get to the most amazing part of the story, I must tell you they had already had more than 90 foster children come and go through their home. Most of the children were children from broken homes, drug-addicted parents, parents in prison, and various other reasons these children were abandoned. However, Mike and Sharon knew that their parents loved them enough to choose life. Every child who would come to them was considered part of the family from the time they came through the door of their home. Not every child they fostered could be adopted as they would either go to another foster home, be adopted, or go back to their biological parents. Every time this happened, there was a sense of loss in the Piotrowski household. However, the doorbell or phone would ring, and the sorrowful heart would be repaired with the sounds of another child in need of love.

This would never be truer than the day the doorbell rang as a social worker was standing on the other side of the door with the biggest challenge of their lives as a married couple, parents, and foster parents. The social worker began explaining about a woman who had seven children and could not take care of them. They were found in deplorable and unhealthy conditions with little food to eat. What made the situation worse, the mother was a drug-addicted prostitute that would leave the children to fend for themselves, sometimes for days. It was not until a neighbor took pity and reported them to child social services.

Without hesitation, they eagerly accepted all seven souls into their home. From the conception of these relationships, sometimes a big struggle because the oldest, about ten, was fiercely independent and had to be taught that someone could love them without expecting anything in return but at the same time hold them accountable for their actions. However, as time passed, the family began to understand how much the children needed and appreciated Mike and Sharon. Likewise, Mike and Sharon began to understand how much they needed and appreciated the children. Call it a divine pairing.  

After muddling through the court system, the mother’s parental rights were terminated, making the children eligible for adoption. The social worker paid another visit to the Piotrowski household with the news and asked if they would consider adopting all seven. Mike and Sharon had cared for, nursed, and considered these children their own for the past year. It did not take much thought and a total belief and trust in Jesus Christ to say YES to the adoption of these children. So, the family of nine became a family of sixteen. For the first time in these children’s lives, they had a mother and father that they knew loved them more than the breath in their bodies.

Mike and Sharon are back together in the kingdom of heaven. Sharon passed away on October 16, 2014, and Mike on February 21, 2016. Both of them died having many bodily aches and pains. However, their hearts were still intact, and they had more capacity to love another child if given a chance. When Sharon passed, a little piece of Mike died inside because his “soulmate” was not physically there to share in the joy of their family. However, Mike knew exactly where his beloved Sharon was: standing next to Jesus, wearing her halo, for she earned it on Earth. If there were two people I would recommend for sainthood, it would be Mike and Sharon Piotrowski.