The Old Life........Arion

Years ago when I had a business, I had a number of friends and contacts whom I saw on a regular basis. There were bookkeepers, social workers,farmers, truck drivers, painters, you na,e it. When you're running a business, you get to know people from all walks of life. And, you keeps tabs on them, get to know them, and friendships and professional relationships develop. It's just something that happens.

One day I looked up from my counter and saw a woman I will call Amanda (not her real name). She looked upset, and when I asked her what was wrong, she told me a very sad story. She had a daughter who had lived in a big city, but was a new widow. The girl's husband had passed away, and she was left in a tight spot. She had spent the last of her money burying her husband, had been unable to make the rent, and had lost her home. She had piled her belongings into her car, along with her son, and had shown up on Amanda's doorstep hoping for a place to stay while she looked for a job and eventually a new apartment.

Unfortunately, Amanda lived in a small, one-bedroom apartment and there was no room for the boy. He was about eleven years old, and both his mother and grandmother didn't think his living with two older women would be good,for him. They were in a dilemma, and didn't know what to do.

I thought about it for a few minutes, and then came up with an idea. I knew of a guy who ran a program which dealt with homeless teens and runaways. The kids lived on a ranch in another part of the state. It was run under strict discipline, and no funny business was allowed. I made a couple calls, and was told that, yes, they had a spare bed. Amanda's grandson was packed up and sent there while his mother looked for a new job and tried to rebuild her savings.

Three months later, Amanda came back to tell me that her daughter had called her son to say she'd found both a new apartment and had a job that could support them both. Her son's reaction, however, was as follows, "Are you kidding, Mom? An apartment? I'm living on a FARM! I'm riding horses and feeding pigs and collecting fresh eggs every morning! I don't EVER want to leave! And you know what? When I grow up I want to be a cowboy!"

I wonder sometimes if he did.

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