"Two Different Worlds"

"Little Moose," a teenage, inner-city gang member, was in a detention facility for committing a theft.  It wasn't his first arrest and his crimes had been varied.  In this repeat stay at Juvenile Hall, Little Moose was a constant behavioral problem.  His anger was obvious, and he showed all the signs of a boy who was sure to return to Juvenile Hall.
     
In the Probation Office, we were almost out of ideas as to how we could help Moose straighten out his life.  One small thing we were able to do was take him to visit his mother, who was in the hospital suffering from a terminal illness.  After a while we were having difficulty finding time in our busy daily schedule to make the hospital visit.  We decided that we should allow a volunteer to handle the assignment.  That was when we thought of Joyce.
     
Joyce was a recently widowed middle class lady from the suburbs. She had attended a Probation Department orientation meeting to learn more about volunteer programs.  She told us that her children were grown and had left home.  Her house was empty except for memories.  Only mildly discouraged by her self-perceived lack of talents or skills, she went through the steps to become a volunteer.  Although she made it clear to the Probation staff that she couldn't do anything special, she said she would help if the need arose.
     
We called Joyce and asked if she could provide daily transportation for Moose to visit his mom.  She readily agreed, and for several days, she arrived at Juvenile Hall, picked up the angry young man and went with him to visit his dying mother.  As the doctors had warned, Little Moose's mother soon passed away.
     
Just as our office was reviewing the Judge's order to transport Moose to the funeral, we received a telephone call from Joyce.  She said that during the hospital visits, she had gotten to know the boy quite well and had also become acquainted with his relatives.  When she asked permission to escort Moose to his mother's funeral, we were happy to agree to her request.
     
Only a few days went by before we received another call from Joyce.  The still-new volunteer who had already raised her own children explained that she and this troubled young man had developed a good relationship.  She believed that she might be able to help him and asked if she could be his specific volunteer.  Everyone enthusiastically agreed, so when Moose was released from Juvenile Hall to his relatives, Joyce was at his side.
     
Years passed before I saw Little Moose again.  He recognized me in the street one day and came over to say hello.  I asked about his progress and learned that after being released to his family, he had gone back to school and then on to college where he was currently a student.  He also had satisfactorily completed his probation term and had turned his back on gang life.
     
The angry teenager I remembered had been on a collision course with destruction, but in front of me stood a pleasant young man with a bright outlook and a promising future.
     
"What changed in your life that brought on this transformation?" I asked Moose.
     
"Remember that lady volunteer, Joyce, who took me to the hospital every day and then to the funeral?" he replied.  "Well, she's what happened!"
     
Moose explained that Joyce had stayed in his life and had become a mother figure to him.  "She took me places, encouraged me and helped me in so many ways," he said.  "She's the person who really cared about me and the one who really made a difference in my life."  He went on to tell me that he and Joyce were still in regular contact and that they always would be.  "I can never thank her enough for all she has done for me," he said.
     
Joyce and Little Moose came from backgrounds that could hardly have been more different, and yet they had formed a lifetime friendship.  Who would have guessed that the dear lonely lady, who had claimed to have no special talents or skills, would become an inspiration to the tough teenage, inner-city gang member?