It's amazing the difference in my mood since yesterday morning. I have some doubts about the veracity of everything Alesia told me yesterday, but overall I think she is OK. She's not in jail and she's not homeless, so I can be cautiously optimistic she's learning some life lessons.
Also, as Mother pointed out, she's out of Atlanta. This is a BIG city and there are many temptations here. We have all the problems of any major metropolis.
Alesia is in a much smaller town now. I'm sure there are unsavory places and characters there, but far fewer than here.
Our constant prayer since we last saw Alesia is that she will LEARN. If a young person refuses to accept the help and protection of older and wiser folks, learning is inevitable. We just try to shield them from the more harsh ways of learning things.
I can say in all honesty that I had to learn some hard lessons in my 20's also. I never got into any sort of legal trouble, nor did my finances ever go haywire, is the big difference. Then again, I was loved and nurtured for my first 13 years of life, unlike my daughter.
We went out to lunch at Mother's favorite Mexican restaurant yesterday, and the sense of relief was palpable. We then rode downtown and I showed Mother the building where I work. Except for getting stuck in a traffic slowdown it was a very pleasant afternoon.
The weather has been so cool - here, less than 90 counts as cool - that on Friday Michael said it was too chilly to really swim. He didn't stay down at the pool for very long.
I got Mike out of bed yesterday morning by telling him I'd take him shopping. We went to Sports Authority and he got a new pair of tennis shoes for school, black Converse hightops. I found some tennis shoes for him on the Clearance table, and a new backpack that can hold shoes and a wet bathing suit. He was pleased with everything. I hate shopping but I felt like we had a pretty good morning. I will post photos later.