Betty
I thought I might have blown it. I would have to be more careful with my next email. I would have to try to bring it down to a more personal level and gain her trust. I also had to soothe her fears that it was not a scam to get money since she brought up the cost. I wrote another email and sent it at 6 pm.
Betty,
I did not personally interact with your son so he would not know me. I observed various students from the senior class often without any of them knowing I was conducting my research. I was working under a federal grant and I did not interact very often with school authorities. Their views did not coincide with mine as they were primarily concerned with just pushing students through. They thought the psychological welfare of their students was not their concern and believed I was wasting everyone’s time. I can tell you now I would not get a good referral from that school.
I am also a single-parent mother with a son and spent too much time at work while he was growing up and as a result he did not end up going in a positive direction after graduation.
I decided to research this phenomenon in order to figure out where I went wrong. What I discovered was that many sons with single-parent mothers would get very despondent when they got close to finishing high school and would have trouble with relationships the rest of their lives. They would also start to resent their mothers blaming them for their inability to have a healthy relationship. This is primarily a result of missing a father and relying only on his mother during his development. They exhibit low confidence and often get involved in harmful relationships.
Since my failure with my own son I have decided to devote my free time to helping others. I have helped dozens of parents the last several years with a very high success rate. I do not charge for my services. I’m only trying to make up for my own failure as a parent who loves her son. Since it is a free service, I do no face-to-face interviews or office visits. I check my Email a couple times a night and offer guidance and that’s generally enough.
If you do not feel comfortable with this arrangement please don’t bother to reply. I’ll understand completely. If you do recognize your son starting to get despondent I recommend you both get seek professional help.
Thank you and I hope this answers your questions,
Sue
Just as I sent it mom called me out to the kitchen. When I got to the kitchen Mom was there with one of her intoxicating broad smiles no doubt in an attempt to cheer me up. She confirmed that when she told me “What would you like for dinner? You seem a little down. Let me cheer you up with one of your favorite meals.”
I paused long enough to compose my answer. “Whatever you want to fix mom. I don’t really have any preference. In fact, I’m not that hungry.” That should send up a red flag. I’m always hungry. All through dinner I played up my depressed state, picking at my food and remaining quiet. After dinner I helped her put the dishes in the dishwasher and then went in to the living room to watch TV.