Advertisement

Ree Drummond's Foster Son Jamar Pens Heartfelt Tribute to 'the Best Father Figure' Ladd Drummond

Ree Drummond, Jamar
Ree Drummond, Jamar

Ree Drummond/instagram

Ree and Ladd Drummond's foster son, Jamar Goff, is grateful for his family.

On Sunday, Goff, 20, posted a touching message for his foster father's birthday.

"I've been blessed with the best father figure I could possibly ask for. The smartest, strongest, most dedicated, and devoted man I know," he wrote alongside a photo with Ladd and Ree while he signed his letter of intent to play football for the University of Central Oklahoma Broncos in February 2021.

"You've taught me more things than you know and you're still teaching me," Goff continues. "Thank you for everything you've done and everything you're doing, I couldn't be more grateful for the man I get to call 'dad.'"

The college student concluded his caption wishing Ladd a happy birthday. "Don't work too hard," he added.

RELATED: Ree Drummond's 5 Kids: Everything to Know

Goff joined the Drummond family in 2018, when Ree, 54, and Ladd became his foster parents. Though the food blogger kept the details of her fifth child under wraps for some time, Ree opened up about her relationship with Goff in her book, Frontier Follies.

"Fostering a kid was never something Ladd and I pursued or felt called to do, but Jamar's circumstances presented themselves to us in a way we couldn't ignore," she wrote. "Long story short, all six foot five inches of him showed up at our house one afternoon, bag in hand, ready to move in."

Jamar met Ladd and the Drummond sons, Bryce and Todd, through football, and later encountered Ree for the first time while visiting the family home. Ree became close with the teenager after Jamar got in an accident on one of their all-terrain vehicles.

RELATED: Ree Drummond Introduces Her Foster Song Jamar: He's 'an Inextricable Part of Our Wacky Family'

Todd Drummond, Jamar Goff, and Bryce Drummond
Todd Drummond, Jamar Goff, and Bryce Drummond

Todd Drummond Instagram

Distraught by his injury, Ree provided comfort with her food. "I overcompensated by serving him 'generous' (oversize) portions of home-cooked food every morning, noon and night, delivering it to him on a tray with all the condiments and beverages he could possibly need," she continued.

The cooking star also provided plenty of love. "Jamar's accident, while terrible, did wind up having an unexpected benefit for our newly modified family: It forced all of us to get pretty darn close, and fast," she wrote, adding that she changed his foot dressings and gave him medicine while her husband drove him to his doctor's appointments. Her sons, meanwhile, helped him get around. "We were all up in Jamar's business, and if there'd been any hesitation on any of our parts to interact and get comfortable with one another, his injury quickly knocked down those walls and gave us all a reason to come together. Jamar had to learn to trust us," she explained.

RELATED: Ree Drummond Raves About Her Foster Son Jamar as He Graduates from High School

The young athlete eventually returned to football when he committed to play football at the University of Central Oklahoma. "Big big day!!" Ree wrote on Instagram. "I'm so proud of him and so grateful for his friends, coaches, and community for supporting him in countless ways. And I'm grateful for Jamar himself—his hard work, his commitment, and his presence in our family."

In 2021, Jamar went to college, though he returned with a special present for Ree in March 2022: his laundry. "If I had a Tide pod for every grain of sand on all the beaches of the world, I still would not have enough Tide pods to finish all of Jamar's laundry over the next week," she joked on social media. "It's a good thing he's so cute."