Blue Birthday!

One of the best things about working at the DHP is that I get to work with my primary “John".” He is just awesome. His story is similar to the others: his biological mom is addicted to Meth, his sisters (both of whom lived at the DHP) need a lot of help, one is addicted to Meth and the other has 3 kids and is the victim of domestic abuse. He traveled across the country as a child with his mom trafficking drugs. He was adopted when he was 8, but his adopted mom has only been to see him 3-4 times in 5 months.

All sad. Yes. But that doesn’t stop John. No way. He is a hard worker. He wants to be different. He wants to help his sisters. He wants them to be clean of drugs. He wants his sister’s kids to have a safe home. He wants to be able to provide for a family. He worked his butt off for 4 months washing dishes at Denny’s. He busted his tail looking for another job and now has a really cool job working with a company that contracts with the DHP. He is going to college this January. He told me he never thought he would go to college.

He also turned 19 this December. For his birthday, I thought it would be fun to do something really special. Back in August, I heard that the Blue Man Group was coming to Denver! That was it…that was the special gift!! I bought tickets and kept it a secret from him until about 30 minutes before we arrived. It almost killed him! He wanted to know what his present was soooooo badly! I just told him to dress nice and we were leaving at 5 :)

We stopped for dinner and then headed to the show. It was incredible to get to go to this with John! He was excited about the lights, the billboards, just being in a city! He even loved the parking deck!! He also loved Blue Man Group. He gave me a huge hug at the end and told me it was the best birthday ever. 

Now, I don’t have children of my own, but working with my primaries has given me a small glimpse into the life of being a parent. Dropping John off at the DHP that night was strange. I truly was so gleeful that John loved the Blue Man Group, I enjoyed doing it with him. I wanted to be able to do more, to just show him even more that he is worth tickets to a show plus more. I was kinda emotional knowing he was getting older. At the same time as these emotions, I was sad that he lives at the DHP, not because it is a bad place to be (quite the opposite actually) but because what he has been through in his life has led him here. He has been through so much crap that I wish he did not have to experience.  It was weird to have those feelings, but I do believe the Lord has given me a love for this guy, a desire to help show him his worth. I am thankful for that.