I often wonder why I was allowed to have a nice loving childhood and some kids hardly have a fighting chance.
You could easily say I have a soft spot in my heart for kids. I adopted four boys all out of alcohol or drug homes with them being in an age bracket that said “hard to place.” Don’t get me wrong I had a very good childhood but we also learned the word “no” and dad was very stern with that word.
There was a man who worked at the filling station who had two young boys and a wife who struggled with a mental illness. Unfortunately the dad was killed in a car wreck. The two boys were taken in by a family whose own sons were mean to them I had heard. After using up the $2,500 that the community raised for those boys plus taking their Social Security that mom dropped them off in Woodward. Or let me tell how it really was—hauled the two boys to Woodward, screamed at them and said “get out” and dumped them on a street corner.
They finally figured out they were two blocks from their uncle’s house. You can call me any name you want for saying this—but there is nothing that could ever happen to that woman in a bad way that I wouldn’t say good. The oldest son about 10 years ago took his life over a bad marriage. Leaving the youngest with an ex-wife himself and trying to survive.
I have always liked those boys and have lately started sending money to the jail so he can make phone calls and buy deodorant and such. He wrote a letter to me that literally made me practically cry by saying how much he appreciated it and how I am the only one who has ever done something like that except for his brother when he was alive.
I do not write this so you will think something good about me. I write this saying how many more are out there with similar situations that simply long for someone to show they care whether they are in jail or not. While all the time a lot of us who were more fortunate than them do nothing.
I challenge you to look around and do something about it. Make a difference in someone’s life. If you are a Christian, that is fantastic. But then maybe you are like myself and need to act like one.
Editor’s note: Jerry Nine, Woodward, Oklahoma, is a lifetime cattleman who grew up on his family’s ranch near Slapout, Oklahoma.
