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Dear
Friends,
Gary tells me we’re about to take in more kids, and that we'll soon be
caring for 120 at a time. What a family! I know he’s
worried about how we’re going to take care of them all.
My heart tells me, “the same way we always have — by not
throwing them away.”
I don’t remember when I first heard the term “throwaway kids”, but
the first time I actually saw what those heartbreaking words meant was
over two decades ago when I came to Hill Country Youth Ranch to
work as a houseparent. I
experienced a shocking awakening. In
my tiny Texas hometown, there had been no children without homes.
I remember thinking, angrily, “Who could abandon a kid like Danny, or
John, . . . Ruth, Patty, Michelle, James, Cathy, Jennifer, or Thomas . .
. and so many others? Who?
Why? Who
could torture, rape, and desert these children?
Who could steal their childhood and not even seem to care?
"
Twenty years later, I still don’t have those answers, but as I
write this letter, I have a new question.
How can I think of the words to thank you who have joined us in
this great work God has given us to do?
I wonder if you know what you have helped us do with the term
“throwaway”. You have
helped us throw it away.
Ruth is now a restaurant manager, Patty a paralegal, Danny and James
computer technicians, Michelle a devoted wife and mother, Jennifer a
college student, Thomas a skilled cabinetmaker.
John has a degree in psychology and a brand new baby boy.
I want to tell you how wonderful they all are.
I need to tell you how courageous they have been as they have
faced their lives far more responsibly than the generation that preceded
them. I wish for the words
to describe the look of absolute peace and safety on the face of
Cathy’s little boy as he snuggled into his Mama’s lap and fell
asleep, while she gently straightened his soft baby curls.
I have no doubt that Cathy, who spent much of her own childhood
in absolute terror, would protect her child like a mama tiger if she had
to.
There are over 1100 of our alumnae out in the world now, and every year
a new family is reconstituted right behind last year's graduates -- a
family with 120 children at a time . . . some just taking their
first baby steps in the direction of a new sense of worth, some with
still shaky legs, some with their feet firmly planted on the path.
Your gifts help us provide the stones they need to build their
paths. You provide us
with the buckets they need to carry water to the gardens we help them
plant. Your contributions allow teachers and counselors and
houseparents to live and work with them, showing them a better way . . .
We know from your giving that you have also been saddened by the thought of “throwaway
kids”. What we want you to know is
that there
are none of those here . . . only fine, retrievable human
beings with a lot of love on their side.
Yours and ours. Thank
you for all you have done for all of them.
Please know that your help makes a
difference in the lives of children you may never meet. And that
the world is changed when they grow up, take care of their own children,
and pass on what you have done by working hard and helping others.
Carol Priour,
HCYR Fine Arts Director |
