There are a lot of messes that happen when dealing with addicts. We expect it. It comes with our profession. And often it winds up in this blog.
Relapses. Angry clients. Upset parents who think we should have a better menu for their kid. Or maybe that we shouldn't put their poor baby to work at 4:00 a.m. It's all just a part of our landscape.
The things that stand out though is when we find nice parents. Like walking in the desert and coming upon colorful flowers growing in the midst of rocks. It's a pleasant surprise.
And we had that happen recently, the nice parents. I think they came to see us because their son couldn't make it here. Maybe they had plans to tell us off. Maybe explain how we should have dealt with their boy. I'm not sure because they were polite from the beginning.
And after we talked with them for a while I think they understood. They realized that the son they came to talk about gave us the same problems he'd given them while growing up.
They were gracious and before they left thanked us for our efforts with their child. They understood why we couldn't deal with him.
And a week or so later - even though they owed us nothing - they mailed us a check as a way of thanking us.
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