The Genesis Project is fortunate to have a board of directors who care deeply for the boys we serve. One, in particular, takes time to sit down with the boys and get to know and love them. As a retired educator, Jane Lowther knows how to quickly find the heart of a child. On one recent morning, she met Joshua, who decided to show her around the place.
I met Joshua, an eleven-year-old who was raring to leave the common area and suggested we go outside. He had on no shoes and told me he preferred not to wear any and we were not there long when he asked if we could go to the office. He rang the bell (as he knew the protocol and what was expected to be allowed in) and cleared us so we could go inside. We used the living room area and Joshua made himself at home. I sat upright and he plopped down on the south wall couch. One of the personnel told him to sit up as he walked by the door and Joshua followed his direction but let me know he really wanted to lie down if he had to answer my questions. He moved to the other couch, on the opposite wall, and laid right back down (with my approval) as I wanted him comfortable and at ease as we talked. He had been a resident for almost a year and had lived with his grandmother and he really loved her. We discussed how important grandparents are in a child’s laugh and we shared what we both liked the best about our own grandmothers.
Joshua is a good student and likes math best of all. He has enjoyed reading Piggy stories (which he had to tell me were about scary robots). He proudly talked about his black Murphy bicycle and how much he delighted in riding it whenever he could. We did not talk too long when he asked to go into Dawn Riff’s office (who is the director of operations and has the longest tenure of any employee at Genesis). She was visiting with a board member but opened her arms to allow Joshua in and he knew his way around her office and went through a couple of boxes of toys and found a stress relief squishy ball. She allowed him to have it, which pleased him immensely and, on our walk back to the boys house, he told me he was hoping for an MP3 Player for Christmas. I hope he gets exactly what he wants as I enjoyed our brief time together and learning about one of our residents. (Editor's note: All of our boys received MP3 players for Christmas!).
(Jumping boy image courtesy of Pixabay)
