My son stole money from me. He stole money from me and got on a bus. He stole money from me and got on a bus and went to New York. He stole money from me, got on the bus, went to New York and went to the Village . He stole money from me, got on a bus, went to New York, went to the Village and met other people like him. He stole money from me, got on a bus, went to New York, went to the Village, met other people like him, and had unprotected sex with several people (all of whom were much older than his 16 years). He stole money from me, got on a bus, went to New York, went to the village, met other people like him, had unprotected sex with several people, and felt like he belonged for the first time in his life. He stole money from me, got on a bus, went to New York, went to the Village, met other people like him, had unprotected sex with several people, felt like he belonged for the first time in his life, and got back on the bus and came home. He stole money from me, got on a bus, went to New York, went to the Village, met other people like him, had unprotected sex with several people, felt like he belonged for the first time in his life, got back on the bus, came home, and told me he was in school all day working on a project with friends. He stole money from me, got on a bus, went to New York, went to the Village, met other people like him, had unprotected sex with several people, felt like he belonged for the first time in his life, got back on the bus, came home, told me he was in school all day working on a project with friends and felt more alone than ever.

This isn’t the end of the story. There are many ways this story ended for many people. Some tragic, some positive, some neutral in their own way. However the story may have ended, what I’ve described above is what what my son’s day might have looked like if he had been who he is 40, 30, or even 20 years ago.

Here’s how my son’s day went today.

I bought my son a train ticket. I gave him some spending money. He took the train to New York. He met a Jewish group of LGBT teenagers all around his general age for a JQY “Kosher Teen BBQ”. There were several leaders there including a licensed social worker. He ate great barbecue food with this group and they had an amazing scavenger hunt around a park. He saw some old friends. He met some new friends. He had a great day with other people like him. He was safe. The leader of the group kept in touch with me throughout the day to let me know about my son’s whereabouts and let me know when my son was back at the train station. My son called to tell me he was boarding the train. He said he’s tired. He asked if he could go to school late tomorrow. I’m sure he’s friending new friends on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat and texting his old friends. He gets to take a piece of this group home with him. My husband will pick him up from the train soon and assuming he isn’t too tired, my son will talk my husband’s ears off about the amazing day he had at his “gay barbecue” (to quote him).

I can’t express my gratitude enough. We are so fortunate for the time we live in and the amazing support we all have.