Well, now it is later in life. The day that we warned CTA about has come and gone. We had a plan in place, you see, a way that his consequences were going to impact him. Yesterday was the day that the plan was supposed to be implemented.

And then, some things changed. All of a sudden there we images on television and stories on the radio about families who had been broken up, scattered, whose members didn't know who was alive and who was dead. These images hauntingly kept me up, crying and praying for days.

I decided a couple of days ago, that I could not, would not send my child out to fend for himself when so many others had lost their children.

It's possible that I've set back the process for six months to a year. Family members who are prone to criticims are sure I've gone completely "soft", and that I'm a pathetic kind of mother. But mostly, they've thought that for eighteen years anyway; no big love lost there. I can live with it.

My son brought his girlfriend home to meet us today after church. He's never done that before. She seems smart, funny, friendly, open, and the dog took immediately to her. (the dog hates strangers). She looked me in the eye and shook my hand and told me how good dinner smelled. She answered all my questions, and asked me some of her own. When I asked how long they had been dating, she moved closer to him, rubbed his shoulder, and said "Not very long--yet." I don't know if this thing has legs, but I like her. I want him to have a place to bring girlfriends home to. Plus, she's in college, a brand new freshperson.

If that doesn't motivate him, nothing will.