Sunday, June 17, 2007

Old Stories

I keep thinking that maybe I should tell you what is going on with Faye, but I feel like her story is old and tired. To her it is new and fresh. It is real and full of love and pain.

And that is the tragedy of it all. If I were to see this as a movie preview there is no way I would buy a ticket. Even on one dollar night. I would sigh and wonder why anyone would re-tell the story about the bright young woman who thinks that she, and she alone, can see and bring out the good in her man.

It would be boring if it didn't promise to be so tragic.

And then there is the other story, the one about the foster kid who could stay in comprehensive care until 3 months after graduation, even if that meant she was 20 years old, but who instead plans on packing her bags and walking into the world on her 18th birthday. So what if she has one more year of high school? She will finish. She has a plan.

And the adults say, "I know it looks like a good plan, but if anything, anything, goes wrong it will all fall apart."

But the stories are not old and tired to her. They fresh and new and real. Nothing will go wrong, and the man she loves will be everything she knows he can be.

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:33 AM

    oh my this must be so hard to watch and know you can't change her plans...

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  2. OOOOhhh the kids today think they can beat all odds. Wait I think we were that silly too BUT the world is NOT like when we were young. Pray with my 2 older ones that is all I can do.

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  3. Gag. How frustrating to watch someone throw their life away. Someone needs to come up with a better incentive to keep her on the right path.

    Maybe she can take a camping trip on her birthday and then come back to care. Is there anything you could offer her as a graduation incentive, if she graduates while in care?

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  4. It's hard.
    But maybe, some time down the road after this particular heartache, it will get better.

    The people who were sane and good in my life really helped me, even if for long chunks of time it didn't look like it.

    But I do wish they wouldn't bother with movies and books with that story line.

    Great post.
    So was your last one.

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  5. Ugh - I get so weary with the "good plans" of my 17 and 18 year olds.

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  6. If these stories just weren't so damn tragic and true. All I kept thinking of was the Lifetime network. There are so many of these stories and unfortunately so few end well.

    It is so upsetting that teenagers in the system have nowhere to turn when the plans they make fall apart. I know that if my brother or sister hadn't had the support of our family they wouldn't have made it to become the safe and happy people they are now.

    It is impossible to tell a teenager anything though. From my own experience I remember thinking how easy it would be when I left college early. I remember the teachers begging me to stay in school, to keep at it no matter what I had to do. I remember their words and their compassion. Only now do I wish that I had listened. I consider it one of my few regrets in life.

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