Raised by Wolves

At 5:00, I saw her headed this way.  Walking with a very determined stride.

I girded my loins and went to open the door.

"I feel nervous and upset, so I came over.  Make me feel better!"

"Okay.  Sit down...here's your ashtray.  How's it going?"
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Her grandson is moving to Canada when he turns 18 in June.  He met a girl on-line and they have been chatting for a year.  They are in love so he's going there to get married.

Dar took them to supper last night,  The boy hunches over his food and shovels it in as fast as he can.  The girl eats with her hands--even mashed potatoes--she dips two fingers in and sucks the potatoes off.

Neither one of the kids gets up until afternoon.  They, of course, do not know how to work a Microwave, a Dishwasher, a washer or dryer.  They don't even know to set at the table for meals--taking their plate and heading towards their bedroom, not returning the dirty dishes.

"What is wrong with these kids?" Dar asked.

"Obviously...they have been raised by wolves."  I answered, which made her laugh. I continued, "It's not that they are stupid...they've never been taught."

Her son has a Welfare card from Oregon, that he also was able to use in Indiana, so I am assuming he only needs to go to our Welfare office to get his food card "reloaded" for this month.  He also has an abscessed tooth that is making him sick.

"They have nothing!  Except a dog.  They have two sets of under wear and jeans and tops.  They have worn and slept in them since Friday night!"

So I said, "Okay.  You have tomorrow off--right?"

"Yes."

"You get up early and by 9:00 you head to the DHS office up in Howell.  Get his food card reloaded, fill out the forms to get him help finding a place to live.  Ask them how to get testing for your grand daughter and see where she can go to school.  Tell them that this family is homeless and you are trying to help them.  Don't even mention you are the Grandma.
On the way back, stop at Gleaners and sign him up to get food there.  When you leave there, you drive straight to the free dental clinic--Vina--in Brighton and make an appointment to get his tooth pulled On the way back home, you stop at the Salvation Army, where you used to work, and get them some pajamas and some clothes, coats...whatever they need."

"My life had just evened out and was peaceful.  I don't wanna have to do this!!!"

"Well, your son doesn't know where all these places are, so you gotta take him and get it underway.  The sooner you get everything underway, the sooner they can move into their own place.  Plus, if the boy is moving to Canada in three months, you need to get him a Passport.  He can no longer cross the border without one. Post Office for that application."

"Oh.  I forgot all about that!"

"Has Wayne checked to see if the kids can collect from their mother's Social Security."

"Oh my Gosh!  Probably not."

"Well then,  you need to have him call the SS office and check on that.  My Gosh--each kid could be getting five hundred a month until they are eighteen."

"He won't do it.  He wouldn't even know how."

"Then, you gotta do it for him!"

"I did stop up at the office this morning to register them living with me."

"That's a great start.  Now you just gotta do the rest and then you can go back to work the rest of the week and be away from it--at least until you get home."

"I didn't want to get into anymore trouble with the office, so I even told them that Wayne is a felon."

"A...is...what?"

"If they check his background.  He was in prison for five years for robbery."

"Okay."

"And...he won't allow his daughter to go to school."

"Why?"

"She weighs over two hundred pounds.  She can't read or write.  He's afraid the kids will laugh at her."

"Well, I'm sure when DHS is told that. they will find a special school for her.  If he doesn't, and DHS realizes he has two kids who have never been to school, they will send out CPS and put his kids in foster care.  Does he want that?"

"If that happens, he will pack up and run again."

"Well Dar, I guess that's his choice and nothing you can do about it.  You can offer to help get them settled, but if your son won't accept living in a normal society...there's nothing you can do about that."
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I didn't even know that people like this lived in this world!  I am soooooo naive!  It's not like they've been born and raised up in the highest mountain of Kentucky, away from civilization!  I guess the wife/mother arranged all the Welfare stuff, because the husband sure doesn't even know where to start.

I think the two of them, lived and wanted to live a free-spirit sort of life.  They expected the children to express themselves and do whatever they wanted, not be taught in schools with their regimented ideas. 
When the wife became ill, she would not go to a doctor, or let hospice come in and help.  At the time, they were house sitting--she died in the bedroom of the home owners!!!
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So, I helped as much as I knew to do.  As Dar left two hours later, she said, "I knew I had to come over here.  You always make me feel so much better!"

"No problem.  Let me know if I can help in any way."
<Idiot!  Why did I have to utter those last words?>