Wednesday, September 3, 2008

a confession and a true story

I feel like I'm a little shriveled, dried up blogger right now and I'm certainly not feeling very funny.


Actually, I have felt like crying all day long...............hhhmmmmm, I think I'll quote my lovely sister Kris right now "Trish, your period will be starting in 3 days." (she says that to me every month on the day I call her bawling about something. And guess what? She is always right!). In an attempt to keep it real here we go anyhow:


First my confession: My lovely friend Mara is making me do this. Yeah, she totally called me on it this afternoon while we were standing in the parking lot of our chiropractor chatting about the first day of school. So (just for you Mara) here is my confession:


Remember this post? Yep, my Blog Around the World feature post.
WEEEELLLLLLLL,
I was one of those PTA ladies standing there with my hand opened flat, ready and willing to accept the money.
It is all about the kids you know.
And besides, that post wasn't so much about the PTA as much as the process.
Oh yeah, and there really is not a band-aid usage fee...........yet.


Since I'm at it, Ben didn't get the IT teacher. He did however get the teacher he wanted and I am very happy with his teacher assignment also, so I guess that means we got our IT teacher.


Ben declared the first day of third grade 'AWESOME'.
What more could a mom ask for?




Now the true story: there is a little boy, we'll call him J. He and Ben went to Kindergarten together and the summer after kindergarten we discovered that J lived just around the corner from us. This discovery came because J would show up at our house at 9 am in the morning to play and would often times not leave until well past dinner. If we had to run errands or do anything away from home J would just head out to another neighbor kids house until we got back. This little boy was SIX years old. After a few days of this I started asking J questions. I was trying to figure out how a six year old boy could leave home in the morning, not return until evening and never be missed. Well it turns out that J, his teenage brother and his mom lived with his grandma and grandpa. Both grandparents worked full time and his mom was working a full time job AND a part-time job in attempts to get on her feet. J also told me that his dad "was in jail in Minnesota because my mom caught him doing bad things to me and my brother." So this left J in the daily care of his 15 year old brother who had much better things (read: play HALO all day) to do than take care of his little brother. So J wandered the neighborhood. He was a great kid and really was not a bother to have around. The few times I spoke to a grown-up in his household, no one seemed to care who I was. At one point that summer I even called the boys' kindergarten teacher to see if she thought this was a situation that needed reported to DSHS. I decided it wasn't because J was not "neglected" just left in the care of a couldn't care less teenager, and besides what good would it do to have the rest of his family torn apart?

The boys ended up in the same first grade class and one day J told me he wasn't going to be at our school anymore because he and his mom and brother were moving to their own apartment. I was happy to hear that his mom had been able to do that, but sad to think that he could possibly fall through the cracks elsewhere. We didn't see or hear from J again.

Until today.

I was at Ben's school when I saw him standing in line to go into his class. He instantly recognized me (good thing, seeings as I had fed him for three month!) and smiled a shy smile. I said "J you're back! Are you living at your grandparents again?" He replied, "yeah, my mom died."

And that's all I got from him before his line headed into the classroom.

Seriously.

Please pray for this little boys whose eight short years have been marked with more turmoil and strife than he deserves.

Please also pray for us as we figure out how to minister and serve him.

20 comments:

Mara said...

ok, seriously...I can't even kid with you after reading the whole post!!! Keep us posted on J! And all your blog friends thank you for coming clean!

Kris said...

Keep feeding him. Food, love and the Word of God!

Lula! said...

Oh, wow...I got to the last part and his telling you that his Mom died and I swear my heart audibly thumped.

Trish...whoa...heavy stuff...keep us posted. I'll pray for him NOW, too.

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Oh wow. I don't even know what to say. I'll pray for him. And for you...

Meredith said...

All I can say is wow. I'll be praying for that little guy and you guys. I simply cannot imagine... Thank you for sharing that.

Amy said...

Hi Trish, I'm checking out your blog because Meredith talks about it all the time:). I will pray for this little boy. That story broke my heart. I'm not an official blogger as of yet. I'm still playing with "facebook" and too busy lurking around at other people's blogs!

Erica said...

Wow, Trish. What a heartbreaking story. I'm so glad he's close to you guys again. I can't imagine a better family (with open hearts and hands) to minister to little J. I instantly teared up at the thought of what he's gone through and the AMAZING opportunity you have with him. We'll be praying for him (and his family) and you guys too. Keep us posted!

meleea said...

praying for J. i am so glad God him back into your life at this time!

Elena said...

Ughhh....That gave me chills. So sad. Little children shouldn't have to go through so many trials. He is blessed to have good neighbors like you who are willing to somewhat take him in. My daughter had a little boy in her class who's mom suddenly died of an aneurism. It was tough. But loving teachers and friends have helped him a lot. Praying for little J.

Lee Ann said...

You love him and pray for him and you let your heart break for him.

Anna's best friend has a similar story. It breaks my heart. I try and let her be a part of our family as much as possible. I don't know how long it will last, but I pray that someday when she's older she'll remember us and the church we took her to and she'll know that there are people who love her.

Gina said...

Whoa.
We has a little J one summer. B would come over every day after school and ask if he could stay and play. So I let him- on Mondays and Fridays. Then summer came. And so did B. Hungry. Good thing peanut butter is cheap.
One day one of the kids asked B where his big sister was (who was supposed to be taking care of him). His answer? She's at home with her boyfriend. He keeps kissing her. He even kisses her-" That's as far as he got before Jesse cut him off and told him that he was not allowed to discuss that type of thing at our house.
Sad, really.
B and his mom moved out and left his sister with thier dad. When I asked B where he was going to live he said, "I don't know. Maybe our car again."
Keep feeding him, Trish.

Julie D. said...

what a blessing for J, to know you guys... Praying for him. Obviously the Lord isn't done with that relationship!

Tawnya P. said...

Oh my goodness. Okay, seriously, I think I may have heard about him and his situation. It fits all too well with the info I got from someone who could possibly be his Aunt. But whether it is him or not, I will definitely be praying, for J, his family, and for you. God bless...

Unknown said...

Oh my... Jesus help that little boy. And help Trish be your instrument to him.

amen

Ronnica said...

Big stuff. I hope that you and your family are able to befriend him and love on him again.

Annette said...

amen to hot tub lizzy, Lord. God, rescue and heal his broken heart.

thanks for sharing that Trish. look at the community now that is praying for J. please keep us posted!

Gramma 2 Many said...

Hmmmm, I wonder why you did not go to N. Carolina?

Melissa Lester said...

Oh, my! I couldn't believe this! What an awful lot for such a little boy to go through in such a short amount of time. I'm thankful that you are eager to reach out to him. I'll bet it means a lot to him to know you care.

Debbie said...

Now I'm gonna bawl...and my period is weeks away. I will pray for this little boy and keep us posted on this story.

ohhollyf said...

Wow !