Fourth Visit to Bon Air

It is amazing how much more Sage opens up to me each time we talk.  He usually just shows a practiced part of himself to me, one that he has worked on perfecting during his time in Bon Air.  It’s like he used to want to prove to me that he isn’t a bad kid and that his old choices don’t define him.  Last night, he started talking about what he used to do before prison, but he made it very clear that those actions were not parallel with how he sees himself now.  He didn’t share exactly what his charges were for, but I learned about stealing, drug dealing, and fights.  I think when he asked me a little bit about my life in college and found out that I wasn’t squeaky clean either, he felt more compelled to open up.  I really connected with him more this time because I feel like he was acted very relaxed and real.  He was no longer showing off his accomplishments but he now acknowledged his past.  He seemed really into the idea of doing a “then v. now” type theme for our book because he is clearly very proud of the progress he has made.

It was nice to see that the boys really like us coming and they get more and more into the activities every time.  I was touched when Brian got sad that Ally wasn’t there.  He missed her and seemed to have a genuine connection with her.  It’s sweet that we are one of the best parts of their week. Sage seemed to look up to me because he asked my advice on colleges and if I could help him with some questions he had.  It’s nice because I feel like a lot of boys think the system failed them, but it seems to have helped Sage.