I raised up out of my warm cocoon of blankets at daybreak to see Babygirl coming through the door with a figure behind her, and assumed it was b'friend.

"MOM....guess who's here!!!"
"mumble,snort,groan"
"It's Bobby! He's here!"
"mumble.bobbywho.mumble"
BOBBY DEAN!!!!!!!!!!!

And I'll be damned if it wasn't :) Coming at the crack of dawn to give his adopted mom a hug.

Bobby is one of the pack of young adults who were around here fulltime for awhile. They ate and partied and crashed here. They fought and made up and cried here. When some inconsiderate member of the opposite sex broke their hearts, I heard it all. When their parents wouldn't or couldn't understand them, I was their go to gal.
I went to sleep many nights with their bonfires shining through my bedroom window and the bass of somebody's truck stereo pounding. But I always slept well. Because they were here, and they were safe and they're good people.

The drama that is their collective pasts is part Friends and part Dazed and Confused.Bobby was one of the "bad boys" with a good heart who seemed to attract trouble like a magnet. He left the familiar chaos of this town and moved on to another life in another city away from the same old routines and habits. And it shows in his smiling face. He's happier than I've ever seen him.

Home. Where the heart is.

What a great wakeup call. ^j^