Barrett was a sow's ear who was with me a LOT... and based on where he came from, he had no business graduating from high school. His dad died in a car wreck when he was little (a car wreck that stemmed from drug use). His older brother beat and nearly killed someone as a teenager and ended up in Pine Hills and eventually, prison. His younger brother was a "troubled youth" at best, and spent plenty of time in JDC. By the time he got to high school, it was unbelieveable that Barrett didn't walk right down that same path. He graduated in four years (actually three and a half); he took a semester off after getting in a fight at a house party which landed him in the hospital... 40 staples in his scalp and two months of rest later, he came back to school. I remember the day he graduated... he amazed me. I wish I could say that I made that silk purse, but that was all HIS doing!
He always talked about wanting to go to culinary school. I wanted to believe he could do anything he set his mind to (he is certainly smart enough), but I also saw that all of the cards were stacked against him.
Recently, I found him on Facebook and shot him a message, asking him how things were going. The following is what he wrote back... one or two of these in my career is all I'll need - I'll eventually retire a satisfied teacher.
I am doing well! Not yet living the dream, but I'm on my way. I'm still living in Great Falls, still with my mother in fact. She is still recovering from her back surgery, but her back gets stronger every day. She'll be back on her feet soon enough (figuratively speaking, of course, she can walk!).
I just graduated from the COT. I got two associate's degrees; one in business and one in accounting. I am now enrolled at MSU-Billings through their online program to earn my bachelor's degree in business administration and debating whether to continue towards my MBA or head off to culinary school first! I am taking 16 credits and working full-time at NEW downtown so that keeps me pretty busy (hence the off timing on the reply). I've got to keep my grades up so I can try to get some scholarships for culinary school, because it's so dang expensive!
My little brother just had a baby last year. Her name is Gabby, and she is the cutest baby. I never thought I'd like babies so much, but I just love her to death. Bryan is in Virginia, right now, in training for the military. He is doing really well and seems to have found a place he can really shine, which makes me proud. And Brandon, well, he's still doing the prison thing, but he's not complaining.
I cannot believe you are at CMR now, Traitor! With you there, the school cannot be all bad, so consider yourself forgiven! Hope to hear from you soon!
Barrett
2 comments:
it's a fine line between shit and salad. a lot of us would be on the wrong side if it weren't for great teachers and mentors.
And I'm thinkin' it isn't really shit at all. It's just disguised as shit. It kind of reminds me of the furniture I've refinished. It looks pretty pig's ear-ish, but once you scrape off all the crust and crud, voila! there's the Silk Purse! (I've often thought that would be a great name for a furniture refinishing business.) There are all kinds of reasons for us not to see the silk purse each other person really is. Overcoming that exterior alone takes unimaginable strength and reserves from a kid. Or it takes someone else to start cracking the dried-on shell, peeling off a little at a time till the kid finally has a little wiggle room in there to start removing it himself. Yeah, those of us who work with kids are really blessed. I'm so proud of what you do, Susan, and how you do it. I'm proud to have a shit magnet for a daughter!
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