Once again we are in the season of giving thanks, seeking peace and hoping that the bad things affecting our families and communities find acceptable solutions. There is an evil in our world today which is equal to the historic plagues that affected mankind. It is the scourge of drug addiction and deaths resulting from that. There are few of us who don’t have knowledge of a family member, friend or neighbor who has been affected by the agony of a drug related death.
Perhaps we have more awareness of the issue now that our son Peter, after 25 years of forestry and construction related jobs, now has found his niche as a Counselor at a private home for addicted teenaged boys near where he lives in Montana. The youth who come there are largely sent by their families. The home operates on the school year. The youth attend the local school along with residents of the area.
Last year when Peter was a new staff member, he wrote of a 16 year old whose grandparents came from their Midwestern city to celebrate Thanksgiving there with him. They enjoyed the food, football games and visiting their grandson. He was doing well and earned a pass to go home for Christmas. Sadly, he convinced his mother that he was drug free/cured, and did not need to go back. Within a week he was using drugs and tried to play games with drug dealers who shot him. He died a few days later.
The “score” for this game: one young life lost, several families devastated and 19 and 22 year old men facing life in prison. The discouragement Peter felt was lifted a few days later when another former resident who was registering at a college called and told him, “Pete I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.” Since then Peter has completed the courses required to be a Counselor. He recently wrote to our family as follows:
“It has been an interesting transition from Staff member to Counseling and as an old cowboy once said, ‘there are a lot of things they didn’t tell me about when I hired on with this outfit.’ Well that applies here and it is not the management’s fault.
The sheer amount of time spent talking to parents is amazing. I can understand their struggle, but they soon forget why their kid is in treatment. They expect that one good school grade is a solid reason for them to get a home visit pass or other reward. Also it is incredible how much disconnect there is between the parents and their responsibility or impact on their child’s drug use. People baffle me but I know that God wants these kids to have help.
The house I am running is doing well. Four of the kids made one of the levels of the basketball team and one is wrestling. There are two who came here with a .8 and 1.3 GPA but now have 2.88 and 3.01 averages, respectively.
One of my boys is a 14 year old Native American who has not seen his family in almost a year and phone calls are few. He made Honor Roll and the freshman basketball squad despite having a pellet in his ankle from when his brother shot him! As I left tonight he said, ‘I love you Pete’ and I responded in the same manner. There is simply a bigger reason for helping these kids, despite the frustrations.”
As parents and grandparents, we share the frustrations of those who work to turn these young lives around. A “quick fix” would be nice but if there were, the professionals should have discovered it by now. Most addicts didn’t get into the habit all by themselves and won’t get out of it on their own.
Maybe the time or season has come for all of us to get involved by letting addicted individuals and their families know that we stand ready to help any way we can. Let’s at least try by understanding, supporting and yes, praying for them.
