Handcuffs

I’m having a hard time starting this post.  I said I would write about some of the times Peyton got in trouble.  I thought I would start out with the most serious.  The others I can pretty much laugh about, this one, not so much. 

When Peyton started going to rodeos, he was 15.  He went with older boys.   I knew the chance I was taking letting him hang out with older people.  I knew the things he would be exposed to.  I prayed he would make good choices.  We waited up for him every time he came home from the rodeos, even though it was very late. 

We let him go camping with a couple of guys he rodeod with.   I got a call around 12:00 a.m. from the county sheriff’s office.  Peyton had been arrested.  The boys had gotten to their camping spot, had a few beers and then decided to drive to town.  The boy driving had pulled out onto a major highway without turning his lights on.  The policeman saw them and pulled them over. 

Since Peyton was a minor, the officer called us before they even got to the station.  Peyton was in jail for about 15 minutes.  The officer let us know that he was very polite and didn’t give them any trouble.  I wasn’t impressed. 

I don’t think we even spoke on the way home.  My mind was reeling.  Is this the first time?  Is this just the beginning? etc. etc.  I was so angry with him.  I was afraid I would say something or give him a punishment I would regret.  I told him to go to bed.  Tom & I lay in bed for a few minutes and Peyton called to me.  I went to his room and he asked me what is punishment would be.  I told him we would discuss it in the morning.  He said, “Mom!” in such an anguished voice I almost felt sorry for him. 

I sat down and talked with him about the dangers of alcohol, etc.  I also spoke to him about his reputation and the repercussions of his actions.  Teenagers like to say they don’t care what people think about them.  I explained to Peyton that he did care.  Do you want people to trust you? believe you?  What if there is a girl you like and her dad won’t let her see you because he heard you’d been arrested?

He was grounded from everything for 2 weeks.  Maybe it should have been longer.  I knew my son and believe it was long enough.  He was a humble person for a very long time after that.  I can’t say for sure that he never drank again.  I hope not, but he was a teenager that loved pushing the envelope. 

Those boys he was with that night?  The driver came to our home and apologized.  I also know he went to his girlfriend’s father and apologized.  He’s a good guy that made a bad choice.  Both of these boys men were pall bearers at Peyton’s funeral.  The one who wasn’t driving got saved not too long after Peyton went to Heaven.  Tom & I watched him get baptized.  We love them both very much.

A few days after his arrest, Peyton asked me, “Mom, have you ever been in handcuffs?”  I said, “NO!”  Peyton said, “It is awful.”

I can almost laugh about that, but not quite.

I’ve shed some tears writing this.  It was such a hard thing when it happened.  I didn’t want to make this blog about a “perfect Peyton.”  He wasn’t.  He was a typical teenager with a little something extra, at least to us who love him. :)