A humbling moment....
Once in a while you get hit with a dose of reality.
Today was one of those days.
My neighbor is named Greg Gibson. He and his wife, Lori and their two sons, Josh and Dallas live about 1/2 mile from here. Aside from us they are the only family in our development who actually live here. All the other houses are vacation homes for weekenders.
Greg and his family have been here for about 8 years. Greg was forced into retirement due to a disability, he used the settlement money to buy his house. His health has been declining for many years. I have seen him go through some really hard times and it has taken a toll on him and his family. He struggles with addiction to pain killers and has come pretty close to death several times.
Jan and I stopped by this afternoon on our way to town. Josh (now about 20 years old) came out and met us. He told me that his dad was not doing well. The medication was really messing with him. I also found out that Greg's wife, Lori--who had been the only source of steady income for many years--had a stroke a few weeks ago. She is still in the hospital where they removed a lemon sized blood clot from her brain.
So 20 year old Josh is more or less holding the whole household together. With the help of Dallas (middle teens) Josh keeps house, gets groceries and minds his dad and mom. And to make matters worse, not that long ago they were robbed. (apparently they knew the people who robbed them, just can't prove anything) They lost a lot of stuff...computers, guns, video systems etc.--things that would be easy to pawn.
Jan and I have vowed to make sure the boys have an open invitation to come down and eat any time and they can call on us if they are ever in need. I'm afraid Josh is being forced to assume a serious role at a time when most kids his age would be partying it up at college. Life's not always fair. But I can't help but believe that this will make Josh a stronger man in the long run. He is a good kid.
Today was one of those days.
My neighbor is named Greg Gibson. He and his wife, Lori and their two sons, Josh and Dallas live about 1/2 mile from here. Aside from us they are the only family in our development who actually live here. All the other houses are vacation homes for weekenders.
Greg and his family have been here for about 8 years. Greg was forced into retirement due to a disability, he used the settlement money to buy his house. His health has been declining for many years. I have seen him go through some really hard times and it has taken a toll on him and his family. He struggles with addiction to pain killers and has come pretty close to death several times.
Jan and I stopped by this afternoon on our way to town. Josh (now about 20 years old) came out and met us. He told me that his dad was not doing well. The medication was really messing with him. I also found out that Greg's wife, Lori--who had been the only source of steady income for many years--had a stroke a few weeks ago. She is still in the hospital where they removed a lemon sized blood clot from her brain.
So 20 year old Josh is more or less holding the whole household together. With the help of Dallas (middle teens) Josh keeps house, gets groceries and minds his dad and mom. And to make matters worse, not that long ago they were robbed. (apparently they knew the people who robbed them, just can't prove anything) They lost a lot of stuff...computers, guns, video systems etc.--things that would be easy to pawn.
Jan and I have vowed to make sure the boys have an open invitation to come down and eat any time and they can call on us if they are ever in need. I'm afraid Josh is being forced to assume a serious role at a time when most kids his age would be partying it up at college. Life's not always fair. But I can't help but believe that this will make Josh a stronger man in the long run. He is a good kid.