Visit

I was very happy yesterday. One of the boys I used to counsel more than two years back paid me a surprise visit, after he was discharged from the Boys' Home the day before. He had been sent there for a period of two years for multiple thefts and sniffing glue. And oh my, has he changed...

Turning 18 in a month, he is now at least a head taller than me and he speaks to me like a mature young man. Back then when I was handling his case, he was presenting so many challenges - suicidal risk, manifesting distractions, "seeing things" etc... But yesterday, he was so much more grounded and congruent with himself.

I had always known he had this ultra-sensitive side to him, and I'm glad I tried my best to enter his reality and connect with his sensitivity. I really feel a lot for him. I know his road ahead will not be easy, especially with a stigmatising history behind him. But I know he is resilient enough to journey with himself. You go tall guy!!!

*Perks of staying long in my job? The reward of return visitors like him.