Don't Forget to VOTE!!

The good news is that I have the day off today for Election Day!! The bad news is that I have a terrible cold and will end up spending most of the day in bed!!! But, I will get out and vote and will have the whole day to rest, so in the end, it's all good.

I had a good day at work yesterday and then had my social work supervision afterwards. That always makes it a long day, but I really get a lot out of it.

Mere asked for the whole story of Bryce. I've told bits and pieces of it, but i'm always open to sharing my stories, so here it is. Feel free to skim through it if you don't want the WHOLE story!!

We moved to some condos near our house in the summer of 2005 while we were building our house. People moved in & out of these condos all the time, sometimes in the middle of the night, and we quickly realized that while they looked nice from the outside, they were really a place where a lower class of people were able to afford to live. Dogs ran free all over the complex, people shared cable wires that were run in one person's window and out the other, kids were out all hours of the night, etc. We ended up living there for 2 years thanks to Hurricane Katrina and had many interesting experiences. Shortly after we moved in, a man and 2 young children moved in across from us on the 3rd floor. A young man from Cameron's class (this would be Bryce) came by one day and said this was where his step-dad (let's call him Timmy) was living (and yes, Timmy had moved in during the middle of the night). The 2 younger kids (4 & 6) pretty much ran wild around the place and could be found outside on many nights after midnight with no adult supervision. Bryce visited there several times, and before we knew it, he & his mother (let's call her Tracy) moved in. Tracy pretty much slept all day and the kids ran wild some more. After several weeks, Timmy locked Tracy out of the condo (keeping all her stuff) and told her she had to leave. Tracy had nowhere to go and left Bryce there with Timmy (who had raised him since Bryce was 3). Timmy didn't want Tracy to have access to the condo, so he wouldn't give Bryce a key either, since he might let his mom in. Bryce would come home from school and have nowhere to go. He was in 7th grade at the time, so probably 12 years old, and would have to ask people if he could have something to eat and use the bathroom. After witnessing this several times, I asked him to feel free to come to my place anytime (keep in mind that Cameron is not with us every other week) and hang out until Timmy came home. He took me up on the offer and would come over every day. I quickly realized that Timmy wasn't getting home until 9 or 10 at night!! I also realized that he was taking steps to ensure that Tracy was homeless, carless, etc. and I knew he was trying to get custody of all 3 kids, including Bryce who isn't his. On one occassion, Bryce missed the bus and Timmy told him that he didn't have to leave for work until another hour and wouldn't bring him, so I brought him!! I saw Tracy one afternoon, and although I really didn't know her, I approached her about having Bryce stay with me to avoid the continued neglect at Timmy's house, as well as her losing custody of him. She agreed and told Timmy that Bryce would be staying with me. After 2 weeks, she called and told me that Timmy had papers from the sheriff's office and that I was to send Bryce back home. I offered to wait until the sheriff showed up and let him know about the neglect, but she asked me to send him back, so I did. Before long, Timmy & the kids moved to another city and we saw Bryce once in awhile, but not too much. During the following summer after 8th grade, Timmy's new woman didn't want Bryce living with them, so Tracy was able to get him back, but still was unstable but seemed to really be trying to get herself together. She rented a beat up trailer in the middle of nowhere, but it wasn't in the school district where Bryce had been previously, so I offered to let Bryce stay with us until she became stable and could move into the same school district. He was able to start school in 9th grade at Cameron's school and rode the bus to & from our house. Things were going really well and he was staying with us even when Cameron wasn't here. Bryce loved the stability and even the rules in our house. Tracy met a real loser, let's call him Casey, cause that is his name. He moved in with her and the chaos began. He was quite a character. They were visiting friends on our street once and Casey was drunk and fell down on the side of the road. When he realized how stupid he looked, he decided to say he got hit by a car!! Yeah. So anyway, they were together for several months and Bryce was staying with us some and them some. I got a call one morning asking if I could pick Bryce up and bring him to school. I found out when I picked him up that Casey had stolen Tracy's car!! She had thrown him out and he left in her car!! She was scared of him coming back, so we let her spend a couple of nights at our house. She told us one day that he was supposed to be coming to get his things from the trailer and we offered to go there with her to make sure she would be safe. I was so scared that I called 911 to ask for someone to come there with us, but nobody ever showed up. We heard Casey pull up in a truck and then some other people pull up in Tracy's car. Tracy asked me to run out there and get in her car and drive off!! I couldn't do it for several reasons - there were people in it, Walter was still in the trailer, etc., so I told her no. So, SHE ran outside SCREAMING at the people to GET OUT OF MY CAR!!!!!!!!!! They jumped out as she drove off, leaving me & Walter alone with all the crazies!!!!!! Fortunately, Casey was scared that we'd called the police, which we had, and they all got in the truck and left. It was skeery. But Tracy rescued her car and parked it in our garage. She had recently began working at a new job, and within days decided to move in with her boss! He lived about 40 minutes from us, so Bryce was staying with us again, then once they got settled, they decided to come and get him after school each day. They got off work around 5 or 6, but then they wouldn't show up until 9 or 10 at night to pick Bryce up!!! I finally had enough of that and told her that it was time for her to make Bryce a priority in her life! I told her lots of things, including how irresponsible she was because she'd already let Bryce miss too many days of school to pass, but somehow she talked her way into getting some of the days excused. She shaped up after that and things had been ok. Tracy & the new man moved over the summer into a leased house about 7 houses away from us, so Bryce doesn't stay here at all anymore, but is usually over here whenever Cameron is home. I was bringing him to school when Cameron is here, but he hasn't asked for a ride in weeks. He has recently missed or been late 8 - 10 days at school. I get the calls when he's not there, so I know, and it really burns me up, but since I am not keeping him at all (and haven't since May), I don't feel like it is any of my business. I do expect them to have to move soon and ask me to keep him again, and I'm sure I would do it. I get aggravated because she never offers to send food or money for him, but honestly, I would rather know that he is being cared for than worry about the money. So how's that for a story? Never a dull moment, I tell ya!

And again, some memories of my JP! Please keep him in your prayers!

This is us in 1986!

This was the best times JP had in his life. He was drug free, dating the girl in the white shirt/black jacket, in college. What I wouldn't give to have those days back.

Yes, Walter had a Pee-Wee Herman doll hanging from the ceiling fan in the living room! And a cow skull/hat rack! He was a bit eclectic as a bachelor and it took a while for me to slowly move those things OUT!!! LOL

And if you look closely, the infamous blue stick that is frequently mentioned by my real life friends is actually in the background of this picture!!

Bad picture of my mom, but cute one of JP

Questions & Comments:

Mere said she hopes I enjoy my work and I really do. It is mentally tiring at times, but I really feel like I'm making a difference in some of the kids lives.

Laura asked about buying prepaid calling cards for JP. You can't send anything other than letters to him in the county jail where he is at. If he is sentenced to a state prison, I would imagine that you could send or bring other things, but where he is now is ridiclous and wont let them have anything. Also, she wants to know if I buy frozen daiquiris at Walmart!! I got a real kick out of that!! There are drive-through daiquiri shops all around town and I just picked one up close to the Walmart!!