First News of Frankie

The guy from the center (shall we name him? who has an idea? How about "Guy"?) came by for the things Frankie wanted. He said that Frankie cried himself to sleep in the car. When he got there so many people greeted him and welcomed him back that he started feeling at home.

I like This Guy from the center, and he clearly likes Frankie. I am so happy to know that Frankie is someplace where he is liked.

He says he also thinks that Frankie knows this is where he needs to be. Guy also said, as so many of us have, that Frankie will probably need a supportive environment all of his life. I don't know that there will be one for him as an adult, or that he will accept it if there is. I hope so though.

I told him that it was important for Frankie to understand that he could not come back here to live, but if he understood that then I wanted to be able to visit him and maybe even have him visit here.

It turns out that Guy is a foster parent with my agency! So he understands how I feel about having made a commitment to this kid, even if I can't be his parent.

I asked Hubby, "Can you imagine working at a residential treatment center and then coming home to be a foster parent?

And he said, "I wonder if it is like being a special education teacher and a foster parent."

Um, yeah...probably something like that.

OH! And the social worker said she is going to see if she can arrange for Frankie to go to the same counselor he has been seeing -- you know the one who is a child counselor with experience in sexuality and gender identity? If she can arrange it, the agency will continue to pay the counselor and even for transportation back and forth from the center. It's about a 45 minute drive, one way.

Oh I hope so. Even if it is only once a week instead of twice. He is so good with Frankie.

In other news, today Brian had a band concert with his school. He is in Advance Junior High Concert Band, which is sadly hampered by one terrible trumpeter and that Different Drummer whose beat all the eccentrics are marching to. Seriously, this kid was staring off into space beating out his own irregular little rhythm while the band struggled to stay in some sort of time. It was so bad that at one point I really had to struggle not to laugh. They played two songs. The second piece had two kids on drums and the new one could keep a beat and the Different Drummer followed him. So with the exception of the occassional sour note from the trumpet, it was okay.

But Brian is also in Jazz Band, one of the only two 8th graders, thank you very much. They were really fantastic. I mean, it is a high school band, but I have sat through a lot of junior high and high school band concerts over the past six years, and they were good.

And then the four of us went out to ice cream.

You know, oddly, I feel like today was a good day, a very good day after quite a few difficult and bad ones.