Today we officially celebrated Ryan's graduation from New Life House. It was emotional for so many reasons. As I shared with the families, we began this process over three years ago. Our first interaction with New Life was when the guys were guests at one of the family support groups we attended at Mt. Carmel High School. There were over 100 people in the gym that night and Ryan was in the center of the group being "called out" on his behavior by the guys. As I sat and listened to these young mens' testimonies and those of their parents, I can recall thinking how great it would be to be in their shoes. Little did I know the path we had ahead of us. Wasn't too many months later that Ryan was being dropped off at New Life as it was clear his outpatient program wasn't enough. One of the worst days of my life was when the Director told us nearly 6 months later that we needed to bring him home as he wasn't mature enough to want to change. He needed to sink or swim. He swam for two months before taking a nose dive which landed him back at New Life. It was 17 weeks before he was allowed to have contact with us but, he will tell you today, it was those weeks that changed his life and made him realize he had to change. The young, messed up kid that we left there is today a fine young man with 21 months of sobriety, a job, doing well in his vet class, and a role model to many. We couldn't be more proud of all the hard work he has put into the process and the world of opportunity ahead of him now. Today I stood before that group as one of the parents of a young man like those I envied three years earlier - VERY, VERY PROUD.
("4140" is the house number for New Life.)
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