Dr. Phil...

Dr. Phil had a show this week that had a fascinating segment...

There was a 17 year old named John. He was turned over by his mother (a heroin addict) to foster care where he'd bounced 15 times from 'family' to 'family'. Apparently he hasn't been treated well and is desperately in need of a stable family life. Well, it seems that is something Dr. Phil can't provide, but he did what he could for John...John walked away with a $2500 scholarship, a laptop, acceptance into Cal State, a dental plan and a job interview.

I feel so much for John - I cannot even imagine what a life like that is like. I am surprised that anyone lives a life like that - where I live, you don't meet people that have had that much pain in their life generally. Most of the people I know, grew up in pretty regular houses, went to college and got pretty regular jobs. It is hard for me to imagine that there really are a ton of kids in the same boat as him - that day was his 18th birthday, where he's let out of the system. I never thought about it, but the show mentioned that he loses health and dental insurance as well. On top of not having somewhere to live or anyway to pay your bills. That is a terrible situation to drop an 18 year old into. The fact that he's focused enough to do well in school even though he went to TWELVE different high schools is amazing.

I hope he does great things for himself - he deserves everything Dr. Phil gave him and more. Good luck John.