A Family Secret (Conclusion) (standard:other, 18814 words) [3/3] show all parts
Author: Kenneth Nash	Added: Nov 09 2006	Views/Reads: 2639/1989	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A story of how a family secret influenced a young woman's decisions in life.

The following day Ben caught up with Janelle right after the group
session. “Hey, Janelle, my friend Jonathan, you know the guy that came 
over and spoke to you yesterday? He seems to like you a lot!” “How 
could he like me? He doesn't even know me,” Janelle snapped. “Janelle, 
you are always so defensive. You need to lighten up some.” “Jonathan is 
a good buddy, he has tried to help me in so many ways. Even when I was 
doing drugs, and my family didn't want anything to do with me, Jon was 
always there. He and his father talked me into coming here. He is just 
a good guy that is a friend to anyone that will let him be,” responded 
Ben. 

Secretly she admitted to herself that she had given Jonathan a second
thought too. “Ben said he liked me... if he knew what kind of a girl I 
am and all the things I have done the past five years he wouldn't have 
said that.” thought Janelle. “But, I have heard Ben talk in group 
sessions about all the things that he did when he was using, and they 
aren't all that different than my story. And yet his friend drives out 
here every Sunday afternoon to visit. Maybe Jonathan is a real friend.” 
pondered the young woman. 

It had been four months since she was sentenced to the rehabilitation
center. She had never had a visitor, received letters, or phone calls 
like many of the other residents. But she realized it was her own 
fault... she never let anyone know where she was. 

When she went in to see her counselor that week they discussed setting
goals. Suzanne, her counselor, suggested she think about short range 
goals, and then have some long range goals also. She further advised 
Janelle to put them on paper, and get busy accomplishing them. 

After thinking on it for a few days, Janelle started her list: 

Short term goals 1.	Finish up rehab and take a certificate of completion
back to court. 2.	Make contact with my adoptive parents. 3.	Find a job, 
and a place to live. 4.	Find a place to go attend 12 step meetings, AND 
STAY CLEAN AND SOBER! 

Long term goals 

1.	Earn a GED. 2.	Try to enroll in college. 3.	Try to find my birth
parents. 

“It will be a daunting task to fulfill all the goals on my list,”
thought Janelle as she handed the list to Suzanne the following week. 
The counselor agreed the goals would be difficult, but not impossible, 
if Janelle really wanted them. 

It was cool, but, sunny the next Sunday afternoon. Janelle had wondered
if the funny guy with the cute smile would visit Ben. She had almost 
decided not to go down to the pond, but at the last minute changed her 
mind. “After all, the ducks will miss me if I don't go and feed them” 
she reasoned.  She took her journal and some feed for the ducks and 
headed for her favorite bench. When she got down to the pond there were 
several residents with visitors already there.  She looked for Ben and 
Jonathan but they were not there. She felt a little disappointed, but 
then reasoned that it was just as well... she didn't want to talk to 
Jonathan anyway! 

She was writing in her journal, contemplating the goals she had set, and
wondering how she was ever going to achieve them...at this point she 
didn't have a clue, when a voice behind her said, “Good afternoon Miss 
Janelle LeAnn Armstrong, the fourth!” She turned, startled, to face 
Jonathan and Ben. Jonathan had that dazzling smile while Ben looked on 
with apprehension. “Hi, Ben. Hello Jonathan, I didn't see you come up. 
Nice to see you again Jonathan Scott Mason, the third!” Ben looked 
relieved and the too young men laughed at her remark. Jonathan and Ben 
invited her to go to the canteen and get a soft drink with them. When 
they returned to the pond, after a few minutes of small talk, Ben said, 
“Jon, I have some work to do on my journal this afternoon, I was going 
to put it off after your visit... but if you don't mind I will go take 
care of it while you visit with Janelle... that is if you don't mind 
Janelle.” “I wonder whose idea that was?” thought the girl. But 
inwardly she was glad that Ben had left them alone for awhile. 

Jonathan sat down on the opposite end of the bench. There were a few


Click here to read the rest of this story (1783 more lines)