I'm sorry to hear about your son. My prayers are with you.

Kids sometimes make the wrong choices and some lessons are learned the hard way.

Tough Love is hard on Us parents but when you love your children you sometimes have to stand your ground. It may take some time but in the end they will thank us.

Good Luck.

Idealist, keeping you and your son in my prayers. Hoping that the outcome of the trial will both benefit and guide your son to a new path.

(((Idealist))) I hope this somehow makes for a turnaround for your son. It is so hard to watch them make mistakes.

Oh Rich...this must be weighing so heavy on your heart. My own kids have put me through so much and I remember the worry and the anxiety I suffered. It is so difficult when we know that what they are doing is wrong....they do need to answer for their behaviour and we as parents end up having to watch and can do very little......if only they would have listened to us!!
Our kids can be heartbreakers!!
I ended up letting my kids know that I love them no matter what but once they get to a certain age...I ended up praying and getting out of the way and let God handle the situation....they do grow up...some take longer. Turning it over to your God is a good thing ...it may be only so that the situation does not end up effecting your own health in a bad way...but it is a good thing that I practice alot when situations are that difficult. I have sent a prayer up for you and your son Rich! Please take Care of yourself

You and your son are in my prayers. I can only imagine how hard it is for you to watch him go through this. Please take care of yourself, as the stress can really amp up the FM.

Take care Rich!

thinking of you, dude....

I have been praying for your son, and for you. Consequences are tough for all.

Well, it went pretty much as expected. They're going to refrain from charging my son with the worst of the two felony charges for three years, and if he stays clean the whole time then they'll throw it out of court so it won't be on his record. The second felony was reduced for grand larceny to petit larceny, and he was sentenced to a year with ten months suspended. The way the law works here in VA, he should be out in 26 days, but he'll be on parole and has to do 80 hours of community service. So all in all he got very lucky indeed.

Now my worry is that such a light sentence won't be enough to dissuade him from the same type of activity in the future. He says that he sees the world in a much different way than everyone else, and that it makes him special. He's too smart for us to understand the way he thinks. (Shakes head)

Anyway, thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. May you all be blessed for caring.

oh Idealist this truly is a mixed feelings report huh.....

relieved they didnt give him mega harsh sentence ...... hope and pray that God will use this to truly get thru to him and change his attitude and bring good purpose into his life

praying for you too my friend

Thanks for letting us know, Rich. You deserve blessings for caring, too: You are a good Dad!