Teen Full Of Good Spirit, Right Stuff

Dear Ann Landers: I hope you will print my letter so kids who have a loving mother and father will realize how lucky they are.

I am a 13-year-old girl. My mom tried to give me away a couple of times, but nobody wanted me. Finally, my grandparents took me in, even though they were getting older and hadn’t planned to raise any more children. I owe them a whole lot.

I never knew my father, but I have an idea he wasn’t much good. My oldest sister died of a drug overdose. She was 23. I have another sister who is 21. She lives with her boyfriend and they have a little baby. I also have a brother, 19, who lives with his girlfriend. They are taking care of my little brother. He is 10 years old. My youngest sister was the lucky one. She got adopted by some very nice people.

I consider myself fortunate that my grandparents were willing to take me in. My grandpa is legally blind, but he is a wonderful person and taught me never to complain because there are a lot of folks who are worse off. I don’t want to sign my name to this letter so just say I am - From California

Dear California: I admire your spirit. If your reason for writing was to let a lot of teenagers know how lucky they are, I’m sure you succeeded. I don’t know what your goals are in life, but I’d be willing to bet you’ll reach them. You have a lot of the right stuff.

Dear Ann Landers: A while back, you printed a letter from a woman who said she had absent-mindedly placed a set of keys on the roof of her car and forgotten all about them. After driving across the Oakland Bay Bridge and up and down the winding hills of San Francisco, she was amazed to discover that the keys were still there. Here is something that tops that story by a country mile.

A woman in Tinley Park, Ill., placed her 2-month-old son, who was in his car seat, on the roof of her car. The woman, who also had her 6-year-old and 4-year-old children in the car, had pulled over to pick up a friend and the friend’s infant. In order to make room for the two new passengers, she temporarily placed her infant son on the roof of the car. She then took off, forgetting that the baby was there. The child, still strapped to the car seat, fell off the roof of the car into a busy intersection, with cars whizzing by in all directions.

Michael Prough, a trucker from Merrillville, Ind., passed the intersection and spotted what he thought was a toy car seat on the highway. He might have continued on his way, but the baby blanket caught his eye, and he turned back to investigate. Prough and his co-worker, Harold Eaton, discovered the baby and flagged down a passing police car. An ambulance was called, and the infant was taken to the hospital. The doctors said the car seat protected the child from serious injury.

The baby is in good condition, with just a few cuts and bruises, so one might say, “All’s well that ends well.” I call it a miracle. - Relieved in Chicago

Dear Chicago: So do I. The police and the Department of Children and Family Services have ruled this an accident. No charges are being filed against the mother, who was in a panic when she realized what had happened. Bless those truckers for having the intelligence and compassion to stop and rescue that child. They truly are knights of the road.