Today we went to court to get the last of Brent's "past" finished with. The day he went into PCHAD he had been in custody and arrested for mischief and possession of stolen property. Our lawyer worked with the crown and made a deal that if Brent plead guilty to the PSP and one count of the mischief they would reduce the sentence to community service. After he does the community service his record will be clean. He will enter his adult years with a clean slate.
Since Brent is actively seeking going into the military in April time was of the essence to when he finishes the community service. Our lawyer explained to the judge Brent's goals and his desire to go into the Navy. The judge (funnily enough) was a very close friend of my brothers from way back when. Although I am not sure he recognized me - the last time he saw me I was about my son's age! The judge said the idea of giving the youths a sentence is to rehabilitate and hopefully put them on the right path. He said he was happy to see that Brent was on that path already and the last thing they wanted to do was hold him back.
He first gave him 50 hours community service but when our lawyer told him that he had to be finished this by April to enlist he cut the hours in half to 25!
We are thrilled with this outcome and Brent has decided he will probably volunteer for the next week (5 hours a day) at the Mustard Seed downtown. This is a homeless shelter for our adults/families in the city. I am going to go with him - I figure they could probably use the extra hands and I have nothing to do - so why not give of myself. God has smiled upon us and given me back my son - I need to smile back.
Our Lawyer (Kim Ross) was fantastic and I can't say enough about him. He is a fabulous lawyer and a wonderful person. He does youth and adult court so if you are ever in need I highly recommend him.
When we got home I called and told my Mom the good news. She told me HER good news. She is getting the best cardiologist in the country to operate on her and she has become a case study, so has a "team" of highly respected and credited cardiologist on her case. This is fabulous! Looks like she will have surgery in Edmonton fairly soon.
This has been a great day! I think after everything was said and done Brent and I both were so relieved we crashed and slept for the next 2 hours! Next week will be a busy one but a rewarding one.
~K
