Friday, July 28, 2006

I can't think of a song lyric...but I know I will after I hit "publish post"

Well, we're mostly settled.
On Wednesday I picked JJ (and his things) up. He told me to be there at 11:am. Of course I was anxious, so I got there a little early. When I got there, he was sitting there, waiting. We loaded all his things (which were all packed in trash bags-but more on that later) and then it was time for him to say goodbye.
A lot of the staff members had come to see him off - not the important ones like his casemanager or supervisor, but the ones that worked in the Acopian. They all said how much they would miss him and asked us to please keep in touch with them. The one guy told me that JJ (who like most teens, usually sleeps in) was up bright and early pacing around.
I felt very badly for Robert who didn't say two words. Just helped us load JJ's stuff with a very long face. His best friend is leaving him. So, I made arrangements to pick Robert up on Thursday for him to spend the day here.
We brought everything home and unloaded it. Keith came home from work and came up to JJ's room with us. "Welcome home, son." Keith said, then added, "It's okay that I call you that?" "Yeah, that's good," JJ answered.
I offered to help him put his stuff away, but he said, "Miss, I'm responsible. I can take care of myself." I told him I knew that, but I would like to help him get his things organized. He said no. A little later, he came to me and said, "If you really want to, you can put my clothes away for me. But only if you want to."
Later, Keith took him on some errands with him, so I went up to put his stuff away. Now, those of you with teenagers...imagine if someone told them to pack up everything they own. Now imagine if the only thing there were given to pack it in was garbage bags. He had papers in with his clothes. Stuffed animals, bedding (that I swear to you must have never, ever been washed), cd's, pens and pencils, knick knacks, clean clothes, dirty clothes....ALL MIXED TOGETHER! He had clothes that he hadn't worn in years...clothes that were sizes too small for him. He had one dress shoe! Anyway, we sorted it all, and put everything away. He just has one crate left of "junk" as he calls it. I can only imagine what's in there.
Him and Braden have been getting along so well...but I know it's only a matter of time until they start arguing. But, it's all good.
Yesterday, we were in the car on our way home from his dentist appointment and he asked if he could use my cell phone. "Sure," I said, "who are you going to call?" "My mom," he answered. The next thing I know, he showed me the number he'd dialed, and it was mine. I almost cried. The only thing I have to do now is to get him to stop calling me Miss!

5 comments:

The Broards said...

Thanks, Schell. I'm at work and I'm crying. That's the sweetest post ever. Love it.

You should give Keith some sex for the sweet thing he said to JJ

Anonymous said...

You made me cry too, dammit.
The other day I was listening to Prince and I thought that "All of my purple life" would make a good title for one of your posts.
-Pork

UrbanStarGazer said...

Welcome home, JJ!!!!

I agree . . . Keith deserves at least a hand job for that.

Jenny Robin said...

that kid is sooooo gonna love being loved

Anonymous said...

Woohoo. Welcomes to JJ. He's got a cheering section out in the world.

Now, didn't you say y'all were going to foster another boy? Is it Robert?
Do you think that process will be as melodramatic, now that they've come to their senses about JJ?