My Brother and The Kid

My brother left in January to move out to Spokane, WA. It broke my heart when he did that. He wasnt within driving distance to home. As I predicted though   It was not what he expected and is coming back to the east coast. Syracuse, NY. Its not the southeast, but at least its closer. he tried to get this part of the world, but there were no lucrative medical contracts, So he had to take what he could get.

He pulled in at 1:15am on Friday morning, with his girl friends teenage son. He is 17 and has dropped out of high school. The whole story of this kids life makes me sad. I firmly believe kids are a product of their environments, and with him its no different. A father he has not seen in 15 years, a mother that quit her job and left her kids behind to follow my brother to Washington state. -- something I just don't agree with. Three kids all with different dads, now she has hooked on to my brother. To her its love..to me she see's a meal ticket.

My brother found him Thursday in a walmart parking lot. The kid  had bounced from friends house to friends house. Finally, even they got tired of him and kicked him to the curb. So, my brother  agreed to take the boy in- with ZERO tolerance. He must get his high school diploma, find a job, And learn some discipline. No smoking, no endless hours of being a couch potato, no hanging out all night with friends. And certainly no sleeping till noon every day..and he must shower and wear clean clothes.

D, ( my brother) was all ready having his doubts about this decision. Its not his kid after all, he had raised his...now here he  is again with a teenager in his life.  He had to be the example, and be the disciplinarian..the whole ordeal was all ready wearing thin on him. 

Senior and I allowed the kid in to our lives and our home for the past couple of days, we showed him what a real family is like, we had real dinners together like families are supposed to. He interacted well with ND and NW, played catch with them,  and helped them with toys,  He helped me out in the kitchen, cleaned his own dishes, and always said "yes ma'am and no ma'am" to me.
We talked and gave him advice and encouragement. I looked right at him yesterday and said:  "Even though you come from a crappy background, your parents have not done their job and they have let you down,  you don't have to continue down that path, the past is the past"
 I told him, "the future is yours to mold. "

I took both D and the kid to the airport this morning at 430am-  We said our good byes, and I wished the Kid good luck. He left with the promise to get back to school.
By now they are in Syracuse.    In the wake of the visit D left us his Land Rover Defender to take care of over the next few months.....