You don’t know me, but I owe my life to the old Children’s Home (now the Legacy Treatment Services Children’s Home Campus) and house parents Mr. Hagey and Mrs. Grunden. I was placed in Riley Cottage in Mount Holly back in the summer of 1973. I was a hot mess when they got me. I was 12 – full of rage and hatred, mistrust and spite. At first, I was placed there because a psychiatrist couldn’t figure out why I always ran away from home in Camden.
It was Mrs. Grunden who got me to open up and spill my guts about why I ran away. She then hugged me with warmth I hadn’t previously known. She understood why I drug razors up and down my arms, why I hated adults. When I cried at Riley Cottage, it was the first time I did that didn’t involve someone hitting me. I wanted to die for so long before I was placed there, and I had taken actions to make it happen, even for the first year or so that I was there. But the house parents were patient, they never hit me and no adults tried to put anything in me.
For the first time in my life, I relented and learned how to ride a horse. We went to a horse farm every couple of weeks. We went to Atlantic City and Ocean City to swim in the ocean. I remember (former pro wrestler and commentator) Gorilla Monsoon was on the board and he took us to the high school and the wrestlers would put on a show for us. There were so many positive firsts there that it was the nicest time in my childhood.
I can’t thank them for saving my life, but I can thank you guys for saving others like me. Now, I’m married. I have three children of my own and they have children of their own. I never treated my children like I was treated by my so-called parents. Not once. I wish that I was near enough to you because I would definitely apply for a house parent position. I’ve spent most of my adult life wanting to be that house parent who made a difference in somebody’s life. Anyway, thank you for what you do.
John M.