I think he went to see his bike riding partner.

Thank you everybody!

Like Fredwina said, been some family things going on, but I'm happy to say that everything is going well. I'll provide a full update on what's been going on very soon. Everything is good, though. Nothing bad going on.

Thanks for the birthday wishes, I appreciate it!

Mark

R42Pilot,

Mark! Glad to see/read/hear that you're okay and that everything is going well.

Take care,

Walt

This thread will explain things a little better:

What Mark's been Doing

Mark

Mark,

That read was interesting, and you're right, I never heard of it. Your daughter along with your whole family are to be commended for sticking with that program, I especially liked the "rock" thing.

Keep us updated.

Walt

Thanks, Walt.

It truly is an amazing program. Words don't do it justice. The kids love it there and often don't want to leave after graduation. You can see it in the kids' faces. They have pride in themselves and their accomplishments.

My daughter went from a couch tater with attitude and not much interest in school to running, marching and tons of PT on top of her school work. She's pulling all A's and made the color guard.

To be perfectly honest; it wasn't totally all her fault. She had major allergy issues which led to her not feeling good at all, which led to depression. Couple that with an active imagination and spending way too much time in front of the TV and you have recipe for a mess. She was diagnosed as bi-polar, which I believe to be total crap. Once we got her allergies sorted out and her on a regular regimin of alergy serums, the BP meds totally messed her up. She quit the BP meds before going to the program and has had NO issues with melt downs or anything else. So, once she started feeling better, she also started feeling better about herself. Once in the program, some increased exercise and the support of the staff there and it has worked wonders on her. She's a completely different young lady.

I'm fully supportive of the Youth ChalleNGe program. They run two classes through each year. My daughter is in class 23, so they've been at this awhile and know what they are doing. The kids not only work hard, but they play hard, too. They get to go on field trips and do lots of fun things. Even the community service projects they work on end up being fun because they get to go off base and generally get fed well. All the kids put in a minimum of 40 hours of community service. My daughter said she had in 80 hours and loves it! This is a girl that griped about clearing her plate from the dinner table!!!!

Seriously, if you know kids that are struggling, or are in danger of dropping out..... Check into this. You won't regret it. Kids can get their GED there, graduate high school, or get necessary credits to take home and graduate from their own high school. My daughter will still have to make up some credits to get back on track, but she's excited to do it and has a goal.

Mark