Hi Reeva,
         Just to let you know, I originate from the upper peninsula 
of Michigan which is almost an appendage of Wisconsin, so I add my 
welcome to Brad's as an honorary Wisconsinite.  Go pack!
         I live in Maine now, with my husband, who is a pastor in a 
small church.  You'll probably be hearing more about that over time 
as well since my son Chris, and our church, seem to be the  major 
themes in my life at present.
         I actually have four children.  Matt, age 20, who is working 
at a Christian summer camp in Michigan; Liz, my 15 year old daughter, 
Caleb, my 9 year old, all round cuty, and then Chris, my 18 year old 
prodigal.  Over the years, I have come to this list with a lot of my 
dealings with Chris.  He just doesn't like rules, or the 
establishment and has a pretty rebellious nature at present.  On his 
18th birthday, this past November, Chris moved out to try to make it 
on his own.  He lived in a low class hotel for a while, supporting 
himself by working at McDonald's.  That was stressful so he moved in 
with his girlfriend's family.  They are a study in immorality itself, 
which Chris found even more stressful.  He managed to get kicked out 
of there and ended up on the street and then rooming with a drug 
dealer, changed jobs several times and, finally got picked up by this 
community action program called, Life, which is very loose and poorly 
supervised, but he has a roof over his head rent free and he gets $50 
toward groceries per week.  He dropped out of school and claims that 
he is near to taking his G.E.D., but I don't know if that is 
true.  He claims to want to go into the military because he wants to 
gain self discipline.  In truth, he's still looking for someone 
bigger than him to help him behave.  One thing that he really hated 
about living at home was that we made him face responsibility and 
were trying to help him grow up.  He thought that we were just mean 
and unreasonable.  Sometimes, from statements that he has made, I 
believe he has some regrets about acting so rashly, but his heart 
hasn't changed and he and we know it, so he's on his own.
         There you go, four years in a nut shell.
Kathy



At 11:33 PM 6/23/2006, you wrote:
>Dear Kathy,
>
>Man Oh Man! I shall certainly be praying for your family in this 
>time of crisis!
>
>Since I am new, what sort of program is your son involved in?
>
>It sounds as though (sarcastically) he has picked a real winner for 
>a girl friend or wife! God Bless Him! And God Bless you and your 
>wonderful husband!
>
>LOVE IN CHRIST,
>Reeva Parry
>
>
>At 01:11 PM 6/21/06 -0400, Kathy Du Bois said:
>
>>Hi guys,
>>         Well, I actually have a few minutes to myself to sit and 
>> think, so why not get you caught up on the saga of my wonderful 
>> prodigal!  GRIN!  We finally heard from him this past  Sunday.  He 
>> called to wish Greg a happy Father's day.  I think that Greg was a 
>> little disappointed because after talking to him for only a few 
>> minutes, Chris asked to talk to me.  Anyway, we're all caught up 
>> on the events of his life.  It's a mixed bag, as always.  The 
>> program that he is involved with has moved Chris into another 
>> place.  From the way that Chris described it, it sounds kind of 
>> like a town house.  Even though the place is a two bedroom, Chris 
>> is there alone and he loves it.  Who wouldn't.  He believes that 
>> he's about ready to take the G. E.D. and he has talked to a 
>> recruter once and has taken the pre-military test which determines 
>> your strengths and weaknesses.  He still hasn't talked to Greg's 
>> Brother David, who has been in the military for 21 years, because 
>> he just doesn't want to make the call.  He's still with Nicki and 
>> all that mess.  Nicki's brother has been arrested twice now for 
>> drug trafficking, but Chris insists that he's not involved.
>>         Now, for the flip side.  We don't know exactly what the 
>> truth is.  Chris says that he quit is last job and his old 
>> roommates say that he was fired.  Anyway, Chris doesn't have a job 
>> right now.  His X roommates either trashed or sold almost 
>> everything Chris owned, including most of the things that we had 
>> given him over this past year, so he really doesn't have   much to 
>> his name any more.  His X roommate was eliminated from the program 
>> and so he and his girl friend totally trashed the apartment that 
>> they were living in.  Chris did say that he went back to the place 
>> with some of the workers involved with the program to help clean 
>> up after they were gone.  Chris had never been allowed in most of 
>> the apartment because the roommate and girlfriend and baby had 
>> pretty much claimed the place.  Chris said that there was lots of 
>> mold and garbage to deal with and it was pretty gross.
>>         Chris told me that he only sees about two or three of the 
>> people now that he used to hang around with.  Pretty much, 
>> everyone is two faced in the street crowd and drug culture.  He's 
>> paying a high price for his freedom, that's for sure.  I just pray 
>> that he gets sick of the mess soon.
>>Kathy
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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