As June moves quickly upon us. Many of our children will be completing their high school education. They will be putting on the cap's and gown's of success and marching to the beat of their own growth into young adulthood.

This will be a time for tears and joy. They will be filled with fear and excitement. One aspect of life will be ending and another will be beginning right before their eyes.

Many will already have a plan as to which college they will attend. Or what summer job they will be working prior to moving off to college in the fall.

Parents will watch as they pack up their clothes and most important belongings and prepare for dorm life.

In the same aspect. Some students will be left behind. They will not have earned that cap or gown.
They will be struggling to pull life together.

For these children who have fallen through the cracks of education for what ever reason. My heart
and soul mourns.

Most of them have not had a job. Most of them do not have a plan as to what they will do tomorrow more or less what they are doing today.

Some say it is the parents fault. I dare to disagree.

For those parents like me that attended every conference and every school meeting but still had little encouragement from the child. I mourn for too.

I know the feeling of failure. When your child should be graduating and they are far from the mark.
I had to learn the hard way that education is sometimes not the most important thing in life. The simple road to emotional health is a far greater
important success, for children of abuse.

That is why the funding for programs like "Extended Living" are so important for these children.
Not every child is ready to be on their own at 18.
Not every parent will allow a child to stay at home after the age of 18.

Somewhere in every community you can find one house or apartment complex that has several young adults living in one place. Some think it is the party house. Some times it is. But in most cases those are the kids who fell through the cracks of education and have no clue about life.

When I hear of a child who has gone on and made it through school and on to college. I rejoice for them and their families. You know that life will be a road to existence and happiness for them in the long run.

When I see the kids at the local "Party House" I want to sit down and cry. For the road to life they are choosing will not bring them the happiness and stability that the normal America child will have.

What can we do to turn those lives around? Are they just slackers who deserve what life deals them?
I do not have the answers. All I know is they are some parents child.

So just remember to celebrate well when your child or a friends child makes the grade and takes their first walk of success this June. What they have accomplished is their first key to a life of wisdom and experience. It is a great reason to Celebrate.