Wesley is a young twelve-year-old who is in the seventh grade and originally from Tulsa. He had never been to various places in Tulsa but acted interested in seeing them someday like the Oklahoma Aquarium, Zink Lake, and Flume Park. He said he was an only child and liked school, even though it had only been in session for a few days. He felt like a new year opened a fresh road of opportunities which inspired me. During our interview, he reminded me multiple times that he was hungry and was anxious for lunch to be served (which sent a message to me that he liked the food served and looked forward to each meal served). He loves the outdoors and enjoys finding critters on the outside when the boys are given time to explore. He had found a huge frog the day before but unfortunately, it had died, and he was hopeful he would find more.
Wesley told me he had experienced recent troubles but did not divulge exactly what had transpired. It always amazes me how much these boys will share about themselves when allowed to visit in a one-to-one relationship. Wesley admired a ring I was wearing with a pink stone in the center and asked me a lot of details about it. He wanted to know where I had gotten it, had long I had it and if I liked it very much. I admired his genuine curiosity and his interest with a very minor possession of mine and it reflected his own building skills that spurred him on. His general interest was genuine and allowed others to see his potential if inspired and encouraged and I knew in my heart that that could certainly occur numerous times within the walls of Genesis.
We discussed his concern with physical exertions and narrowed our conversation to whip sticks (which are like skateboards but only have two wheels and not four) and take more resilience and balance. He had mastered zipping around with a whip stick and I had only been introduced to them a couple of weeks ago!
He had not been in Genesis very long, but he was enjoying getting acclimated to his new environment and imagined himself flying around the facility as if he had the powers of Spiderman. Football is his major sport, and he really enjoyed the interest of Ms. Makayla and Ms. Keasia, two of the first-shift direct care workers. He sang praises about the music classes and thoroughly enjoyed listening to rock n roll. He thinks going outside is one of his favorite pastimes and hoped it would not be curtailed when it starts getting cooler.
Wesley thoroughly enjoys movies and introduced me to a group I had never heard of, starting with The Invisible Boy. It was about a boy trying to fit in and someone stole the outfit he had planned to wear to a dance with a girl he really liked. He had to adjust and be accepted despite others who tried hard to diminish him in front of his friends. I thoroughly enjoyed his rendition of a young man learning survival skills and felt like a little bit of this boy’s troubles and progress were emerging from Wesley himself.
His ambition is to become a police officer which is the most popular response from all the boys. It is an admirable job but also a tough one, and he was determined.
He informed me about earning points in the classroom and the rewards they received at the end of the day. He loved getting one hundred points and his reward was sweet cake, and he enjoyed eating desserts. He loved cheese pizza and would be perfectly content if they served it nightly at Genesis. He suggested salads be served but he had to have ranch dressing to top it off.
Wesley and I sat outside, and he needed to be able to move around a lot as it was difficult for him to sit still for any length of time. He shared that he had an older brother who was twenty-five years old and had died from kidney cancer, but he had never met him. He had his own physical problems and needed hip surgery according to his social worker and we ran into Scott Coppenbarger, the executive director of Genesis and both talked about their hip ailments. Scott had experienced Perthes, a childhood condition that affects the ball part of the hip joint and causes pain, stiffness, and abnormal shape. It amazes me that even if they are separated by years and education and paths, they found common ground and exchanged information on a one-to-one basis. One may be at the of the bottom chart and the other hovering over the entire establishment, they could relate and talk about their mutual problems and advise each other.
Wesley noticed I had trouble descending the hill to the swings and asked me about my knee. I explained how I had hurt it over twenty years ago and would eventually have to have it replaced. He swung extremely high and loved my reaction to seeing him be so fearless. When we were going back up the hill, he offered his arm to make sure I got up the hill effortlessly. He was a true gentleman and despite all his own problems, he was considerate of me, which touched my heart.
Genesis provides a warm homey atmosphere for troubled young men who desperately need guidance and direction, and the entire staff steps up to the plate and guides these young men on a path to success. I will be eternally grateful for their efforts in assisting these boys. If you have ever wondered if any donated money truly is used for the welfare of these boys, I can guarantee that the money opens a genuine route to success for these young men. Every time I meet a new resident, my spirits are raised, and I am inspired to give more of my heart. Genesis is making a dent on individuals who desperately need direction and a course outline. I hope by reading this personal interview of one little boy who resides at Genesis now, you can visualize the impact the organization is making and affects the future of man. It starts with a step, and you have the power to be effective. I pray you to consider the impact made by a donation that empowers and changes the course of some young men. It is in your hands.
