September 9, 2008
Dearest Haley,
I know that you realize things were getting out of hand here at home and in your life in the recent months. I have expressed my concern about your behavior repeatedly since the first of this year. You dropped out of tenth grade. You have chosen to smoke cigarettes and weed, recently you chose to steal money from your mother, you only work when it is convenient for you, you have surrounded yourself with people that only drag you down, you are choosing to have sex without commitment, and you can barely get out of bed in the mornings. When school started and you began skipping class right off the bat I knew that you were in too deep to pull yourself out. By God’s grace your mom and I found Aspiro. I hope you understand that this is to help you not to punish you. You know I love you a ton and I want you to have a great life. Well in order to have a great life you are going to need to make some changes.
Your behavior is increasingly dangerous and self-destructive. Because you are such an honest person I know much about what you are doing and not doing. This has been very difficult for me as I watch you fritter away some very important years of your life. I feel discouraged when you fail to meet the most basic of life’s requirements. By skipping school you are skipping your opportunity to learn, advance, and flourish. This is your birthright. Besides, school attendance is mandatory and, as you know, non negotiable. You have such a bright mind and you are choosing to get high instead. By stealing from your mother, for whatever reason, you are taking her resources she spends on YOU! Yes, despite what you think your mom spends quite a bit on you in the form of car insurance and health insurance. This is not a small amount Haley. You have not even bothered to try to pay her back for the money you stole. You have justified this theft in your mind and don’t see it as wrong. Well, it IS wrong. Your decisions to start smoking cigarettes and weed have been costly as well. You have received several smoking ticket costing over $200.00. Neither did you bother to pay these tickets or show up to the mandated classes. You just sweep it under the rug and hope for the best. I can no longer give you cash for your basic needs because you take it and buy drugs. I feel frustrated because I want to make sure you eat and have gas for your car but I cannot trust you to do what you say. Your decision to have sex without commitment is extremely self-destructive. You are giving away the most precious of life’s promise, your womanhood. By the time you grow up and know what I mean it will be much too late but believe me there are consequences to this, spiritual, emotional, and physical. These behaviors are leading you down a path of self-loathing, apathy, and sloth. You know.
I am worried about your future. Both your mom and me want you to be able to get your education, find your purpose and live life to the fullest. You are almost 17 and are well into your high school career. You do not have much more time to resolve these problems. You have to decide to correct these problems NOW. We have many high hopes for you while at Aspiro. We would like you to look at yourself, come to terms with why you are there, and take responsibility for your actions.
We would like you to gain self-esteem and self-confidence so you can get into the next learning environment, accept what has to be done, and succeed. We want you to be ready to put forth effort, even if there is no immediate reward. We want you to get through high school with some level of success and attend a college. We want you to accept authority, even if you do not “agree” with the reasons. We want you to be drug free, and realize that it is important to remain this way. We would like you to be happy and enjoy life, not just for the “fun” things, but to appreciate everything around you, even when you are doing something you might not think is fun. We would like to be able to trust you because you are honest and do not steal. We would like you to treat us with love and support, as we have treated you.
We love you and care for you very much. There are so many unique and special things about you and I know you have the ability to overcome these problems and develop into a responsible young woman. Please work hard at Aspiro and make this a great experience in your life.
I love you very much,
Dad