Kathy, I'm praying for you and Greg in this situation and for Chris as
well. Praying that God will help him to realize what is wright and wrong.

Now, come and have spaghetti before it gets cold. I'm going to put it away,
as VErnon already put it in cartons for me.

Love and Blessings,
Pat Ferguson



At 07:05 PM 11/6/2005, you wrote:
>HI guys,
>         Well, Chris has been on his own for a week now.  Let's see, he
>called on Friday begging for a plunger because, I guess he tried to
>use his toilet as a garbage disposal.  He refused to tell me how much
>or what kind of food that he tried to flush so I told him that he'd
>better get a garbage bag and start scooping.  Yuck!
>         Then, he went in to the city welfare to try to apply for
>assistance.  What none of us knew, but what I, at least, was very
>glad to find out, is that, the city has a policy of calling the
>parents of 18 to 25 year olds who are applying to find out if it is
>really true that they need assistance because the parents can't help
>them.  Now, I must admit here that I am praying that my motives were
>simply to be truthful and not a bit vengeful when the worker called,
>but when she asked if we could help chris out, I told her that, Chris
>would be more than welcome to live here at home if he were willing to
>abide by our rules.  She then asked what kinds of rules we were
>talking about and I said, you know, no smoking, drinking, drugs or
>sex, and respect for us and our things.  She must have given Chris an
>ear full because he called me later to tell me that I had really,
>"skrewed him over."  Sorry, his choice of words, not mine.  I told
>him that I would not ever lie for him so he can just forget receiving
>that kind of cover from me.  Besides, I'm a tax payer.  I'd be
>cheating myself if I lied so that he could use funds for, who knows
>what?  that money is meant for people who really do need it, not for
>people who want to have subsidised  rebellion.
>         Later that day, I got a call from school.  They informed me that,
>even though Chris has moved out, they still consider us his legal
>guardians and that they were calling to find out why Chris wasn't in
>school.  I told them where he had gone, but that he should have been
>able to make it to school by 10:00 am so I'd mark it
>unexcused.  Then, I talked to the vice principal and learned that
>Chris is tetering on the edge of another suspension.  My next call
>was to the probation officer to inform her that the vice principal
>would be hauling Chris in on Monday for a talk about his skipping
>classes, tardies and unexcused absenses.  Then, I called Chris and
>told him that he was being marked unexcused for the day.  He started
>spluttering, "you can't do that!!"  I said very sweetly, evidently, I
>can, and I did.
>         Then, he called to ttell me that he had had his drivers license
>re-instated and that it would be arriving at our house in two to four
>weeks.  He was wondering if we could just bring it by when it
>comes.  What I didn't bother to tell him is that, if our address is
>on the thing, its still invalid.  Oh well, we'll deal with that
>little episode when it arrives.    My big worry is that His girl
>friend's parents will now let him drive their car.  they're fools if
>they do.  He still isn't insured and in the state of Maine, Chris
>can't have anyone out side of the immediate family with him in the
>car, while he is driving for the first three months.  That's how we
>got his license taken away in the first place because he was showing
>off with his girl friend in the car, our car, under our insurance and
>we had to put a stop to it.  Unfortunately, her parents, probably
>don't really care, but they'll have too if they get stuck with a
>legal  mess from his driving.
>         Finally, after all that, he called me in the middle of the night
>last night because he woke up with a nose blead and didn't know what
>to do.  Greg and I both had a hard time fighting the urge to rush
>down and check him out, but I sympathised with him and told him to
>pinch it and if that didn't work, he'd probably have to go to the
>emergency room. He doesn't have a refridgerator so I knew that he
>didn't have any ice available.   I guess that he tried calling again
>today while I was at church, but he hasn't called back again, so I
>don't know how that all turned out.    He said that it was bleading
>really badly, but who knows.
>         Now, Greg is gone for the week to a conference down in New
>Hampshire, leaving me to have all this fun by myself and worst of
>all, the Pack lost again this afternoon!  Wow!  What a week, eh?
>         The peace in our house right now is just such a blessing.  I almost
>breathe a prayer of thanks for every moment that passes, it is such a
>relief for the present not to have Chris in the home.
>Thank you so much for your continued prayers.  I"m sure that we
>haven't heard the end of it so just stay tuned.
>Kathy