For starters...
Let me tell you that the information I've written in previous chapters is still meaningful and interesting to read but that a considerable amount of the links are now dated, so I'm going to be using this and some of the chapters ahead to try to catch you up.
The links that I'm going to share with you in the story are all (as of this date) up-to-date.
This story was originally written at Gather and can be found there by going there.
But I'm also copying and pasting it here in this chapter. Again, please don't neglect to check out all of the clickable links...
Yes I DO Know There's A Heaven, But I Love This Song!!!
In the two years since I've gotten to know him (two years ago this past January 15), Russell--just by being his beautiful self--has become intricately and securely embroidered to the tissue of my heart.
We met (online, that is) at a site called Duno where he was looking for people to take a look at his website. Having not seen his picture, I assumed that this was a young man in his teens or early twenties who had put together one of those popular sites where people could make money while helping him to make money.
He had mentioned about having some interesting videos he wanted people to see, so I thought that these were either videos about how to make money online or else were just some videos he had chosen to make his site more entertaining.
Either way, I wanted to encourage him because there were some angry people there--people who really didn't have any reason to be angry, but you know how things can get sometimes at these sites where people somehow had expected that they were going to get rich quick by starting discussions and/or responding to the same but that it really took a little more work than that--and I was concerned that some of them might eat this eager kid up (i.e. flaming him and calling him a spammer or the like).
Upon arriving, I could see that this kid who went by the handle of "Rusty" was getting a lot of positive feedback. Upon going into the site, I soon realized why.
I also found out that this wasn't a website by a kid but, instead, by a 65 year old man--and it wasn't about getting rich quick but, instead, about getting an awareness of current event issues.
The name of the site (now located at a different url and further improved and expanded) was Russell Online.
One of my New Year's Resolutions for 2007 was to put together a dream team of sorts who would just kinda buddy up and share problems and solutions in hopes of helping people who were falling through the cracks of society. Roger, of course, was one of those people, and, now, this other gem, Russell!
I invited Russell to connect with me so that we could further discuss the issues, and that was the birth of a very amazing friendship!
That day, when I invited Russell to hook up with me, I never expected to fall in love with him--but I did.
So, where will that part of our relationship lead? Who knows? I have my daydreams about us where several special songs--such as the one I've shared with you--make me melt into a pool of tiger butter with thoughts of him.
But whether or not we're friends or not doesn't depend on that. We're friends because we're friends, and we'll always be friends. I've told him time and time again that I'm not going anywhere, and I hope he believes me because he's had to deal with so many people coming into his life and, then, disappearing over the years.
If you read very many of Russell's writings, it will soon become clear to you that he hasn't had the easiest life.
At the age of nine, he came home from school one day to find his mobile home had vanished without a trace--and his mom, dad, and dog were nowhere to be found, either.
A few days later, he was made a ward of the state of Florida and sent to an orphanage. When he was around eleven, the staff at the orphanage decided that he needed to go to reform school where he stayed for 1 1/2 years. This was the same reform school at Marianna so often talked about by Roger--and, twice during his stay, Russell experienced the "discipline" offered at The White House. One time was for talking back to authorities, and the other time was because one or more of his grades had gone down.
Upon his release from reform school, he was put into foster care but soon decided to travel by thumb. Part of the purpose of his trip was to try to find out what had become of his parents and dog, and part of it was simply to feel free.
His travels eventually led him to The West Coast.
He was a good worker and held several responsible jobs--but, unfortunately, his earlier experiences also left him with a chip on his shoulder, so obedience to the laws of the establishment really didn't matter to him that much.
For that reason, he ended up spending over four decades of his life on the inside.
This wasn't one solid block of time and also included his time spent at reform school.
There were at least a couple of times where he robbed banks (never with a weapon--only with a note) and purposely botched up his "crime" because he was wanting to be caught and returned to what he'd come to see as a safe, familiar, and, in several ways, very pleasant environment.
Then, there came a turning point where he really felt as if he had the confidence to make it on the outside.
By this time, he had taken courses from the inside that had earned a B.S. in criminal justice for him. He also got to teach adult education classes to other inmates, finding that his classes were always full and that his students seemed to learn a lot. He also became a mentor to a few young inmates.
This feeling of making a difference felt really good to him!
When he was released in the spring of 2003, he also went into therapy as a way of helping him not to escape back into prison when life on the outside became too challenging for him.
Russell was now living in San Diego, California--and he found his calling!
At the time he arrived there, there were about 2000 homeless children and teens in the area. That number has since increased to around 4000.
In each of those kids, Russell senses a part of his own life, and he doesn't want them to go through what he did.
He spends a considerable amount of his limited income to reach out to them with food, clothing, hygiene items, and other things that most kids take for granted--and he just finds different ones of them, hangs out with them, and listens to their stories.
Knowing that he--just one man--could only do so much, he has founded an organization called Invisible Youth Network (or IYN, for short). I hope that each person reading this will check out this website. I also hope that each of you will read something I've written called What If Everybody Did It?
Finally, I hope that you'll share what I've written here with others.
That 4000 kid statistic is talking about the San Diego area, alone. The number of homeless kids nationwide has seven digits--and, worldwide, likely more...
Coming Soon
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