Mike & Jack
Although on paper the two don’t have much in common, and
there’s a significant age gap between the two Brothers, nothing has gotten in
the way of Mike and Jack’s steadily
growing bond over the past 6 months. Since Mike lives in Port Perry and Jack
lives in Beaverton, Mike spends over 1.5 hours each week just going to pick Jack up and bringing him back
home—a true testament to how Mike feels about Jack.
Mike says
that since there’s not much to do in Beaverton, he often picks Jack up and
brings him back to Port Perry, sometimes with his bike so they can ride around the
side roads. Or they’ll walk
Mike’s dogs, watch a
movie with Mike’s family, or play at the park. Mike has also introduced Jack to
many firsts over these last 6 months, including an Oshawa Generals game, a Blue Jays game, the Ontario Science
Centre and the Toronto Zoo. “Jack loves the zoo,” says Mike. “His mom said he would probably go to the
zoo every day if he
could.”
Though Jack has been
exposed to a variety of new and different activities lately, Mike says he knows
that Jack’s favourite is
when they go bowling together. “His smile is from ear to ear the whole time and
he gets really excited if he gets a strike or a spare.” When I ask Mike what
his favourite activity is, he says,
“Watching Jack bowl. He’s just so happy.”
Over the past
months, Mike’s noticed that Jack has warmed up to him a lot more than in the
beginning. “He’s a lot happier when he’s with me now. He used to miss his mom
soon after we left, but now he doesn’t.” Mike also adds that Jack loves to joke
around with him, and he’s not nearly as nervous as he used to be. Although Mike
doesn’t think that he himself has changed much since they’ve been matched, he admits
acknowledges that he really looks forward to seeing Jack and spending time with
him.
Jack has
really taken to Mike’s family, too. Mike says that whenever Jack gets into his
truck, the first thing he does is look in the backseats to see if any of
Mike’s kids have come along for the ride. “He’s part of the family.” Mike and
his family recently celebrated Jack’s birthday with a surprise party, complete with
cake and gifts!
Mike says
that since they’ve met, he’s learned a lot about Jack and that he hopes with every visit he will learn even more!
If you're interested in learning more information about our
mentoring programs, please call Cheryl Holmes at 905-985-3733 ext 2 or visit our website here.
