David came to us when he was 9 1/2 months of age. He had not rolled over, could not sit up, showed no interest in his environment but we took him and loved him and he is now 34 years of age. He lives in a group home in Mesa, Arizona, and from time to time he gets a bug in his bonnet and threatens to move.
The BUG has bitten him again.
His life has not been a storied existence that would make headlines, but he has lived a charmed existence. I say charmed because he was adopted by us, sealed in the temple, has had the best medical and psychological care we could afford and has had us to look over him and care for him for 34 years. I say care for him because our prayer over this boy is that no predatory person have power over him. He has had some women in his life who have been predatory at the outset, but he has managed (with our help sometimes) to extricate himself from their clutches. Seems like all they want is for him to sign over his SSI check and then they are happy as clams.
Yesterday we got a frantic phone call from the group home asking that we do our best to dissuade David from moving out. He wants to move to the Heber/Overgard area in Arizona to a group home there. He thinks that he will have much more freedom to have his girlfriends come and stay over with him there, but he is sadly disillusioned - the Group homes do not allow overnight visits or extended stays of any kind for girlfriends. It should be noted that the Group home will not answer our questions about David, when we have them regarding his medicines or doctor visits, but they are extremely fast to call us for help in dissuading him from moving out of the group home. They decline our requests for information on the grounds of PRIVACY. Well, I have a few thoughts on that one but cannot write them here.
In reality, the Group Home does not want David to move out because he brings in the most money for them. He is title 19 and the State of Arizona pays well for this group designation to be cared for in group homes. They would lose a lot of income - oh they would find someone to fill his spot, but probably not be as big a money earner for the group home as David is at title 19. No wonder they enlist our help.
When we got the phone call yesterday, I must say that it was not unexpected. Each time we leave Prescott whether it be for a week with Sara and family or to go on a vacation somewhere, David takes the opportunity to act up in some shape or form and either runs away from the group home or creates a ruckus by wanting to move out. You see, David always sees the grass as greener on the other side of the fence, but unfortunately for him, the green grass is usually growing lush and inviting and is over the septic tank. He has had his share of "septic tank experiences" as he has run away from other group homes. This one threatens him (and us) that if he runs away or moves from this group home, he cannot go back. Our response is to laugh at the situation, albeit it is a nervous laugh. David has done this so many times that we realize that we are powerless to do anything about it and that David has to end up shouldering the burden of his choices, no matter what they are.
We are grateful that the group home is diligent in preserving their income status with him there and that they will work as much as they can to discourage him moving. However, consequences are consequences, and David is responsible for himself and is his own guardian and life is hard when we make wrong choices. At least, this time he gave us 10 days before he decided to put a tsunami in his life pond. Ripples we can handle but Tsunamis caused by David have to be handled by the Group Home as best they can.
And so Bugs bite, salve is put on them, problem solved?..............but this one threatens no solution that we can impact from this distance.
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