Most had family nearby that threw them out, but there was one from San Luis Obispo (about two hundred miles north) who had no money to get home and I kept him a month until it was definite no one was going to send him any, so I bought him a bus ticket myself. Another was a 16-year-old whose father had just died, and whose step mother threw him out. He stayed several weeks (with a dog), while I was in contact with his father's lawyers trying to get him some resolution for his homelessness. Evidently, his father had provided for him in the will, it needed to be settled. I also found his father's sister, his aunt, in the next county. She finally came for him several weeks later, took him immediately to the army recruiter, got him enlisted. Lied about his age, and when they found out they let him go. By that time he was living elsewhere from pillar to post in the next county, but at least he wasn't here.
Then there was my daughter's boyfriend whose parents relocated to San Francisco, leaving him, at 17, living alone here in their house to finish high school. He was at my house all the time, and when he needed emergency extraction of 4 wisdom teeth, we took him in and nursed him through a nasty time. Never got a word of thanks from his parents. My daughter also had a girlfriend (about 15) whose mother was a cruise director on a major line and never home. The old grandma couldn't keep a rein on her, she was always sleeping over here. I felt she was "slippery," never liked my daughter hanging around with her, and the night she left a large candle burning on the dresser, ruined the furniture, and almost caused a housefire, I told my daughter no more.
Of course, my niece was always sleeping here, too, but that was different. Oh yes, there's another fellow, a friend of my son's, who's still pops in here several times a week to visit with my kids. He's the one who watches the ballgames with us. He used to be here all the time as a teen, has very upstanding, well-to-do parents, educators yet, who just couldn't deal with him. When you look at all these kids' parents, however successful some seem to be, you realize they are not. They made very bad decisions in how they dealt with their kids and couldn't manage to take care of their own.
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