Comments on: How We Found Our Runaway Teen On A Homeless Binge

By: Karyn

Karyn — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:55:10 +0000

God bless you for not giving up on him. As he matures, hopefully some things will come together for him. I hate addictions as much as I hate cancers. They are both so painfully difficult to heal from, and the fear of recurrence is always lurking. May God bless your family as you struggle through this difficult time.

By: TooManyHats

TooManyHats — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:03:22 +0000

What a nightmare! I am so glad you found him and he was not injured or worse. I see in your comment he is back in Utah. I pray that his stay there goes well and that he learns and grows with the help of his therapist and of course your support. You are so brave to share all this. I am sure it has helped others as they deal with this type of situation.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:03:12 +0000

Hi Shelby, Thank you for your thoughts. Luckily he is now in a safe place. We have sent him back to Utah and he is with his therapist that knows him well. We just had our first phone call and the first words out of his mouth were he wants to be emancipated. That way no one is responsible for him and we don’t have to worry. At least he was honest and his therapist handled it really well. A new journey begins, in one year he will be 18 and I guess there is a chance he will go right back out to the streets. But at least we tried.

By: Shelby, formerly Willow

Shelby, formerly Willow — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:34:24 +0000

I AM SO SORRY.

I’m especially sorry that I put my own parents through this, when I was 16, only without the drugs. I ran away from home with my boyfriend — were in LOVE and HAD to be together, our parents were trying to separate us. Can I say GAG from the vantage point of 30 years later? We lived in North Augusta SC and were finally caught, days later, in Bristol VA. The police were actively looking for us. I love the mountains so my family had an idea that I would likely head toward the NC mountains…

We spent a couple (? — long ago enough I can’t exactly remember) of days in a juvenile detention center until our parents could come and get us and then we were court ordered to go through counseling.

Until I read this just now, I had NO IDEA what I put my parents through and it is my most fervent prayer that when your son gets older and has some seasoning as a “real” adult (at his age, I know ALL kids think they’re grown already) he’ll come to appreciate what he did to you.

I’m glad you found him but, truthfully, I think a couple of days in a cell or a juvie center wouldn’t have hurt him a bit — it sure scared me straight though, again, drugs weren’t a part of the picture.

I will keep you guys in my prayers…

Shelby