At about 14 years old a kid starting running with the wrong crowd. By the age 16 years old that kid quit High School because was of an ultimatum by schools administrator "you can either quit or we'll expel you". Rather than getting expelled the kid opted for quitting. Up until this point the kid had never quit anything in his life.
That kid had been adopted at three years old and had lived in a foster home from birth. Through out the years that kid always asked himself this one question, "why did they (birth parents) give up on me?". That one question ate at him every day of his life. That kid felt like someone had thrown him out in the trash. However, that was a secret the kid would never ever tell anyone. It was one of the dark secrets that the kid suppressed when he was with others. To everyone else he was the kid of Mr. & Mrs so and so. The kid thought their was love for his new parents but that kid was never really sure what love of family was like.
The kid came with no baby pictures, a small suitcase, jeans and a T-shirt to his new home. There were no tales of sisters or brothers or parents that loved him, in fact the kid couldn't even remember the names of the foster family that cared..... the kid was able to remember a swing in the backyard, the wall in front of the house and being scolded for not hitting the bathroom before a ride. From the day the kid was born and until 3 years of age there was no love from anyone.
While the new home and the new parents was a great change, at four years ago the kid had to go to court with the parents to get the adoption papers processed. Yes, this kid knew that these new parents were not the parents that brought the kid into the world, but a loving couple that wanted a child to care and love. While the parents were caring and loving that kid was not sure if he knew what love of family was or is. Our kid had never experienced someone fawning, playing, or showing affection. The kid was unsure what to make of this new home and the parents.
Never the less our kid adopted the new family style and got acquainted in the neighborhood as best as possible. Making friends was easy and in a few short years our kid was off to kindergarten and then the 1st grade! After the first grade it was apparent that the kid was having difficulty in school. By the start of the second grade our kid sported a pair of new glasses and difficulty in school ceased. Our kid was told "that's one of the brightest students I've ever taught", that was the brighter side of second grade and the less lighter side was the taunting that our kid was enduring for now having glasses. Four eyes, freaky, coke bottles, were all thrown the kids way and it wasn't sitting well.
Part 2 for next week
