2007 Thanksgiving Reflections

One big thing I am grateful for is being able to come to Boys Town.  I am grateful to get out of the situation I was in.  If I hadn’t come, God only knows where I would end up.  I am grateful for this because strangers I had never met before brought me into Boys Town, made me part of their family, fed me, gave me a place to stay without wanting anything from me except for me to better myself so I can go on and become a successful adult.  Thank you.
                                                                                          -Shantell, 16

I am grateful for getting a second chance at Boys Town.  When I was home, even though I was small, I was doing drugs, carrying a gun, being out all night and hanging around older guys.  Now that I am at Boys Town, I do not do any of those things and I am learning to do appropriate things.
                                                                                          -Keshawn, 14

I am grateful that when I come home in the afternoon there is a family there who loves me and cares for me.  Everyone should be able to come to a home like that after school and many do not.
                                                                                          -Alexa, 11

I have forgotten to be grateful for my mother.  Regardless of how dysfunctional some families can be, she is still my mother.  We have never had a good relationship together, but I would not and could not be the person I am today without her.  I do love my mom.  I mean, after all, I am my mother’s daughter.  Thanks, mom, for giving me life.
                                                                                          -Nicole, 16

I am happy for the incredible family that does not just pretend to be happy, but really is happy.  I am grateful because they support me.  I love them.  They always try to help me, even when I am acting up.  Thank you to my Boys Town family.
                                                                                          -Bruce, 14

I am grateful for food for Thanksgiving dinner.  What a dinner it will be with apple pie, green bean casserole, turkey, corn and even cheeses on the side.  I never saw cheeses on the side before.  Cheeses on the side look good.
                                                                                          -Raul, 11

One of the things I have forgotten to be grateful for are the hardships in my life.  It is not easy to be grateful for them, but I always think about the negative and never the positive.  I need to think more about the learning that comes out of the hardships.  I learn from my mistakes.  They are helping me become a better person.  Thank you Boys Town.
                                                                                          -Thomas, 17

I am grateful for my mother, who has done so much for me.  She struggled a lot in her life with the battle of choosing between her daily high of meth or the daily love of her children.  She has chosen her children and she is sober now for almost seven months.  I am grateful.
                                                                                          -Sammy, 13

One big thing I am grateful for is my coming to Boys Town.  It is the best thing that has happened to me in my life.  It has shown me how to live on the right path.  I am grateful.  You have helped me to have friends, a safe home, people who I love and who love me and who have shown me how to live a true, faithful Christian life.
                                                                                          -Bridget, 16

I am grateful for all the second chances I have gotten here at Boys Town.  The help I am getting from my housemates, friends, my Family-Teachers and, most importantly, my family.  If it wasn’t for them, I would be somewhere else.  I am also thankful to God because He is always there for me.  When I can’t talk to my family, the Lord is listening to me at any time and every day.
                                                                                          -Carmen, 15

I am grateful for my Family-Teachers.  When I first came here, I had anger problems.  I really did not want to be here and I did not want to work the program.  Through the bumps in the road, my Family-Teachers never gave up on me.  They always helped me to do better.  They were always there for me during my rough time, even though they had rough times of their own.
                                                                                          -Noel, 14

One of the everyday things I am grateful for is a second family, a family that will always be there when I need them.  I came to Boys Town as an angry kid and didn’t like people telling me what to do.  But now, I am grateful.  I now realize I live with people who care.  These people want to see me succeed in life.  They want me to someday become an honest, loving husband and father.  They want me to make a good name for myself and show others how to do the same.  My Family-Teachers are shaping me into a man who cares and who will do what is right.
                                                                                          -James, 17

Something I am very grateful for is being able to eat lasagna when it is made with love.  It tastes better.
                                                                                          -Terrance, 11