Castaway Kid: One Man's Search for Hope and Home

Castaway Kid\ One Man's Search for Hope and Home \ \ By R.B. Mitchell \ Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.\ Copyright © 2007 R.B. Mitchell\ All right reserved.\ ISBN: 978-1-58997-434-0 \ \ \ Contents\ Is This Story True?......................1 1. Cast Away.............................5 2. Little Boys...........................11 3. The Tornado...........................19 4. Different.............................25 5. Kidnapped.............................33 6. The Doctors...........................45 7. Gigi's Gift...........................51 8. The Choice............................55 9. Atlanta...............................61 10. Is There Room?.......................71 11. Why?.................................81 12. Earning Power........................89 13. Reunion..............................95 14. A Few Good Men.......................103 15. The Rebel............................111 16. A Losing Season......................117 17. The Lifeguard........................123 18. Are You Real?........................129 19. A New Beginning......................135 20. The Freshman.........................145 21. Home.................................149 22. Revelation...........................155 23. Into Africa..........................163 24. Forgive?.............................173 25. Pauline..............................179 26. Father...............................185 27. Mother...............................193 28. The Lost Boys........................201 29. Seeking Susan........................207 30. The Relationship.....................215 31. Separated............................221 32. Fear of Family.......................225 33. Full Circle..........................231 Epilogue.................................239 A Note to Educators......................243 For Further Reading......................245 \ Chapter One\ moving, but I don't hear the words. When it finally sinks in that Mother has left me, I begin to whimper. \ "Stop that, Robby," the woman commands. "Play with the toys."\ "I want Mommy!" I scream. "I want Daddy. I want Grandma Gigi. I wanna go home!" The screams turn to loud sobs as I run toward the door. I try to open it, but can't turn the handle.\ "Stop that crying, Robby, or I'm going to spank you!" the woman warns.\ "I wanna go home! I wanna go home!" I cry, throwing myself on the floor and kicking my feet.\ The tantrum pushes her to the end of her patience. Yanking me off the floor, she spanks me again and again. Finally I clamp my teeth together to keep the cries inside.\ She stops, but I can't quit sniffling.\ That night, the other kids ignore me.\ When morning comes, I wake up in a wet bed. The woman scolds me.\ After breakfast she puts a brown rubber cover over the mattress and a brown rubber sheet on top. She makes me lie between them all morning.\ The rubber sheets are hot. They squeak when I move.\ "Pee-pee baby," some of the boys chant. "New kid is a pee-pee baby." I'm ashamed, but too afraid to say anything.\ The squeak of brown rubber sheets has tagged me as being bad, different.\ Different from the other boys at the place where Mother has abandoned me.\ * * *\ In the weeks and months that followed, I heard nothing from Mother. But I did hear from Grandma Gigi.\ I don't know how or when she found out where I was. But once she did, she took the train from Chicago every Saturday to visit me in the little farming town of Princeton, Illinois.\ Gigi was in her 60s, divorced, and poor. Living alone in a tiny apartment, she worked as a clerk at the big Marshall Field's department store downtown. My mother, Joyce Mitchell, was her only child; I was Gigi's only grandchild.\ Visiting me wasn't easy for Gigi. It meant leaving her apartment on the north side of the city early in the morning, walking four blocks on Ridge Boulevard to Howard Street, and catching a bus to the Howard station-then taking the Red Line elevated train to Belmont, changing to the Purple Line to Adams and Quincy, and walking several long blocks to Union Station. There she caught the train known as the California Zephyr and rode for two hours to Princeton. Arriving about 10 A.M., she'd face five more blocks to the Covenant Children's Home.\ When she finally saw me, Gigi would kneel and wait for me to run to her. Somehow she stayed on her feet as I threw myself into her arms. Hugging me close, she smelled good. She always looked like a lady-a modest but flattering dress covering her medium build, along with earrings, a necklace, nylon stockings, heels, and a hat with short, dark curls peeking out from under the brim.\ "What new things have you learned since last I was here?" she'd always ask. I'd tell her all I could think of, then proudly tug her to the playground to show her my latest trick.\ I was proud, too, when she said "Hi" to some of the other boys and called them by name. Kids like us felt special when someone remembered who we were.\ Toward noon Gigi and I would walk to a small restaurant nearby. She ordered coffee, but rarely ate a meal. She let me look at the menu, then said, "How about a hamburger and a nice glass of milk? We'll have ice cream for dessert." That always sounded good to me.\ But 2:00 P.M. would come much too soon. Gigi had to say good-bye and leave to catch the 3:00 train back to the city.\ "Gigi, take me with you," I would beg. "Please, Gigi, please take me with you!"\ That's when she would kneel again, tears in her eyes, saying the same thing she always said. "Robby, darling, you're my precious grandson. I'm sorry I can't keep you with me. I'm sorry your parents are too sick to keep you. Keep my love in your heart. It will always be there."\ I didn't understand what she meant. All I knew was that love seemed to fill me up each Saturday when she was with me. When she left, I felt empty and alone.\ Time after time, standing outside the front door of the Children's Home, I watched her walk away. Arms crossed and hands tucked into armpits, I rocked slightly left to right.\ Why won't you take me home with you? I cried silently. I'll be a good boy, Gigi. I promise. I won't eat much! Please, please don't leave me here.\ Finally she would disappear from my tear-blurred sight.\ And the only one left to hug me was ... me.\ (Continues...)\ \ \ \ \ Excerpted from Castaway Kid by R.B. Mitchell Copyright © 2007 by R.B. Mitchell. Excerpted by permission.\ All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.\ Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. \ \

Is This Story True?     1Cast Away     5Little Boys     11The Tornado     19Different     25Kidnapped     33The Doctors     45Gigi's Gift     51The Choice     55Atlanta     61Is There Room?     71Why?     81Earning Power     89Reunion     95A Few Good Men     103The Rebel     111A Losing Season     117The Lifeguard     123Are You Real?     129A New Beginning     135The Freshman     145Home     149Revelation     155Into Africa     163Forgive?     173Pauline     179Father     185Mother     193The Lost Boys     201Seeking Susan     207The Relationship     215Separated     221Fear of Family     225Full Circle     231Epilogue     239A Note to Educators     243ForFurther Reading     245

\ Publishers WeeklyMitchell is a respected financial consultant and a dedicated youth advocate, but what's not well known is that he had a tumultuous childhood. His memoir reveals his life in an orphanage after his mother abandoned him at age 3, as well as his struggle to find love and acceptance and learn to trust. Mitchell knew his mentally ill mother, who once kidnapped him from the orphanage, but had no real memories of his father, who attempted suicide but ended up brain damaged. His maternal grandmother was the boy's anchor, but she couldn't raise him, which only added to his confusion. He teetered on the edge of disaster as he matured, but at age 17 he prayed, "Jesus, if You are real, come into my nightmare. Forgive me of my sins and change me." Mitchell's story is inspiring both for its spiritual dimension and its conventional Horatio Alger narrative. The facts of his case are also verifiably true, which Mitchell and the publisher take pains to ensure in part through the Web site www.amillionlittleproofs.com, which offers .pdf versions of documents from Mitchell's past. His memoir will appeal to adults with difficult pasts, those who work with troubled kids and anyone who revels in seeing God change a life. (June)\ Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information\ \