I'm sitting here watching the Tigers pound on the Red Sox in Game 4 of the ALCS, and I'm not really in that much of touch-my-heart type of mood, when I come across this.
Tearjerker!
And it's real. Davion Only is 15 years old. He has never had a real home, only a series of foster homes, and he recently learned that his long-incarcerated birth mother is dead. That provided the impetus for him to put away the anger that had characterized his life and to seek a place to feel loved and valued.
The Tampa Bay Times takes it from there:
When he learned his birth mother was dead, everything changed. He had to let go of the hope that she would come get him. Abandon his anger. Now he didn't have anyone else to blame.
''He decided he wanted to control his behavior and show everyone who he could be," Going said.
So someone would want him.
''I'll take anyone," Davion said. "Old or young, dad or mom, black, white, purple. I don't care. And I would be really appreciative. The best I could be."
All summer, he worked on swallowing his rage, dropping his defenses. He lost 40 pounds. So far in 10th grade, he has earned A's -- except in geometry.
''He's come a long way," said Floyd Watkins, program manager at Davion's group home. "He's starting to put himself out there, which is hard when you've been rejected so many times."
Davion decided he couldn't wait for someone to find him. In three years, he'll be on his own.
''I know they're out there," he told his caseworker. Though he is shy, he said he wanted to talk at a church. "Maybe if someone hears my story ... "
I know, I know, there are many children in the system, and to get all choked up about one is to miss the big picture. OK. Fine. Sure. I'm choked up. God put it in this young man's spirit to come forward and seek a family.
The story indicates that two couples had come forward to ask about Davion, but no one had yet formally indicated a decision to adopt him. If you would like to inquire about Davion, call Eckerd's Carlton Manor residential group home at (866) 233-0790. If you can't adopt but want to donate time or money, call Eckerd at (727) 456-0600. Maybe someone from the Best of Cain audience is just the family God has for Davion.
