Martian Child

So last weekend my sister and her family were in town and my Dad rented this movie called Martian Child. I hadn't heard of it but my Dad said it sounded good, and it was really good. It also kind of hit a tender spot for me
(I'll explain in a minute) So the movie was about a man who had lost his wife and had the opportunity to adopt a child with "problems". When David (John Cusack) meets Dennis (Bobby Coleman) He finds out that Dennis thinks he is from Mars. The story goes on to find out that this boy wasn't crazy or even handicapped. He had just never had anyone stable or loving in his life. So Davids only way out of "his world" was to imagine his own. I'm not very good at telling the story, but I recommended everyone of you to rent the movie. I consider it one of my very favorites.
So I think the reason that I enjoyed the movie so much or the reason it has really stuck with me is because over the past year or so we have had these neighbors. From the outer shell they look pretty rough.
Just to give you a little back ground on them... The mom (Stacy) was released from prison in the last 2 years or so. In the time that she was in prison she met Doc. Doc ( now ex-husband) was tattooed from head to toe and Stacy alone could take me and Shawn out in seconds. Stacy has two girls Sierra and Morgan. Sierra is 13 she is a little slow, but I think that is only because of the life that she has lived through, and Morgan is 9 she is a pretty happy go luck girl that hides a lot inside.
They at one point all lived in the house. But as you can see Doc ( the husband left about 4 months ago) Morgan's Dad did something illegal and left the country so when Doc and Stacy got married she always called him Dad. Sierra has a Dad but he lives in Idaho and they don't have much contact. Anyway, throughout the time of them living there I have complained a lot. Ask Shawn and my parents. After Doc left Stacy started renting out he girls bedrooms out to make enough money to pay the rent. ( I'm not sure but I would guess that she was selling drugs also.) Sierra would come over often, when I say often I mean at least 4 times a day. She never had much to say she just wanted to know what was going on at our house. Shawn tries to be home at 5:00 and we normally have dinner at about 5:30 or 6:00. With out a doubt the girls would knock on the door to see what we were having for dinner. One day Morgan came over so excited because her mom said that she was going to make spaghetti tonight for dinner. You should have seen the smile on her face. (that only happened once) Often times the girls would knock on the door at 9:00 and I would ask them where there mom was and they would say she said about 2 hours ago she was going to get us dinner and we haven't heard from here. One night the girls came knocking on the door they both looked really scared. They said that a cop had just come to there house asked for there mom, they both were crying and asked if they could come stay at our house until their mom got home. I think that was one of the only nights I feed them dinner. (I am such a jerk) They were both so concerned about their mom. Morgan even got sick to her stomach. Stacy's friend came over about 9:00 and got the girls. I never heard what happen to Stacy that night.
Well of course time went by and things got worse and worse. We would wake up in the middle of the night to some knock down drag out fights and we kept wanting to call the cops but we knew how much these girls loved there mom. And we didn't know where they would go if she lost custody of them. Last Wednesday, just as I got Jack to sleep there was a knock at the door and then quickly another knock and another and another, finally I got to the door and Sierra was standing there with big crocodile tears in her eyes. She told me that She was leaving and that I probably would see her again. Suddenly all the time I complained about her knock at my door came flooding back to me and tears stared to swell in my eyes. She said she just want to come at tell me goodbye and tell me thanks for being so nice to her. I felt so horrible, I hadn't been nice to her at all, I had actually been pretty rude. But to Sierra I was here best friend, I dare say her only friend. She stuck around for awhile and told me that last week she had locked herself out of her house and she came and knocked at my door but I didn't answer, so she went down to the club house to get a key and one of the neighbor ladies said that she could come to her house until her mom got home. I guess Stacy didn't come home until really late and so the neighbor called social services and turned Stacy in. The next day at school the cops came and asked the girls some questions. Sierra then said that her mom said it was all her fault that they were being taken away and evicted from there home. I felt so horrible for this sweet girl who didn't ask to be in this situation. All I could do was say I was going to miss her and that her aunt would take good care of her and that everything would be alright. I gave here my phone # and I haven't heard from her since. Like Dennis in the movie I hope that one day Sierra finds someone who loves her and will always love her.
The point I wanted to make to this really long story is not that Stacy was a bad mom or that I was a nice neighbor. I actually disagree with both of those statements. But I just want to say thank you to my parents for letting me have a good life and for making my life so easy. And for a husband that cares for me more than himself. I don't think a day in my life has gone by that someone hasn't told me that they loved me or shown me that they loved me. I am so blessed. The sad thing is that Sierra loves her mom just as much or more than I do. She can see right past all of her flaws and she loves her and wants to be with her. I'm sure that I didn't change Sierra's life but she did change mine. I know that I will never let a day go by that I don't hold Jack in my arms and tell him that I love him.
I saw Stacy the day after the girls were taken away and I know she was struggling and I know that she misses her girls. Stacy wants to be good and she wants to have a family life but she just can't quit make it. I'm not sure that Sierra and her family will ever be a functional family but I hope that I will learn from there story and value my wonderful family life.