MOM LONGS FOR SON'S RETURN

If you're a mom today, eating soggy cereal and blackened toast in
bed, count yourself lucky.

Lisa Kirkman would trade everything she owns to be in your place, her
son Noah serving up a Mother's Day breakfast made with love and good
intentions, if not exactly digestible food.

"I'd trade anything to get the awful smelling perfume he'd probably
give to me, or the burnt waffles he'd serve to me in bed for Mother's
Day," says Lisa.

"I'd trade anything I have - I can barely even think about it, it
gets me so upset."

If there's a difference between this Mother's Day and last - both
spent without 12-year-old Noah - it's that the world now believes her
bizarre story of a son stolen from his rightful mother by a stubborn
state government.

The Calgary Sun was the first to investigate and publish the
outlandish tale of a Canadian boy placed in foster care by the state
of Oregon, which won't hand him back over the border to his own family.

Now, nearly two years after he was taken into state custody, it's
international news: CNN has interviewed the distraught mom, and
television's 20/20 has asked Lisa to tell her story.

That's on top of the dozens of Canadian and American media outlets
now following the tale of heavy-handed foster care and Oregon's
refusal to give the kid back.

Lisa, outspoken and angry, usually calls the forced separation from
Noah a kidnapping.

Today though, as other moms get to hug their children, or at least
speak with them, she's just calling the ordeal incredibly painful.

"I won't even get a phone call. I wasn't allowed to talk to him on
his birthday and it's now three weeks between calls," says Lisa.

"I can't focus on that, or I'll fall apart."

Today, Lisa is leading a protest march to raise even more awareness
of Oregon's decision to place a child with a loving mom, dad and
sister in four different foster homes, since he was incarcerated in
September 2008.

The rally starts at 2 p.m. in front of the Harry Hays Building, where
Lisa will read a statement pleading with Prime Minister Stephen
Harper to intervene.

The group will then march to the nearby U.S. Consulate, where Lisa
will make a second statement, demanding Noah's immediate return to
Canada by American authorities.

That Oregon won't listen is almost certain - the state hasn't
listened since Noah became their ward, after police in Oakridge, Ore.
stopped him for riding a bicycle without a helmet.

Noah was a straight-A student in Canada, but a straight-A student
with some difficulties, including extreme attention deficit disorder.

His quirky behaviour led authorities to investigate further.

Though he and his younger sister were staying with their step-dad
John, he wasn't officially registered as their guardian - and with
Lisa in Canada, social service agents decided to take custody of Noah.

At some point, they ran Noah's name through whatever computer files
U.S. social service workers have access to, and discovered Noah had a
record with child services in Canada.

This was a result of his special needs, not because Lisa was a bad
parent - but it was a record, nonetheless.

Next, Oregon agents discovered the Canadian mom and journalist had a
record for possessing medical marijuana - and it was like a prison
door slamming shut.

Officials in Oregon refuse to admit this, or anything else to do with
Noah, supposedly to protect him.

But instead of heading home, Noah was sent into foster care - and
Lisa was essentially told she wasn't getting him back because she
wasn't a fit parent.

Subsequent reports by Canadian child service agencies and
psychiatrists show Lisa is, in fact, a very fit parent - yet this
hasn't swayed the Oregon judge overseeing the case.

The next hearing is on May 28, when Lisa's lawyer and representatives
of the Canadian federal government will head south, to ask if the
judge is willing to let Noah live with his grandparents in Calgary.

Meanwhile, Lisa's lawyers have filed a Hague Convention application
with the U.S. Federal Court, dealing with child abductions in foreign
countries.

As the next court case approaches, Lisa isn't holding her breath.

"I've been through so many of these, I just can't feel hopeful any
more," she said.