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- 12/08/2020
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
Salvation - 58. Chapter 58
Carleton retired and now spends all of his time with the boys. Alex continues to fly between Brussels and New York. He has taken over the plane.
As the older boys completed their education, they were given a choice to stay with Carleton, or he’d help them relocate to where they would like to live. A few of the boys decided they would like to be farmers. Their experience with the orchards, conservatory, and gardens at the house provided them with a great deal of satisfaction. Carleton enrolled them in a community college where they could study modern farming technology.
A few of the boys who came from the Eastern Europe wanted to return home. Carleton bought them a large house with extra bedrooms. He knew that these boys would be providing a home for street boys. He arranged for them to meet the men at The Hague. Carleton wanted to make sure they had security.
Maria did retire to the apartment over the garage. Peter married his girlfriend and lives in a house very close to Carleton. They have two children, twins, which visit Carleton quite often and call him Granddad.
Steven got a Ph.D. degree in social work and has taken over the house, essentially retiring Carleton. There seem to be young boys in the house all the time. The streets continue to produce children that need Carleton’s legacy.
Of the 42 boys that lived in that house, they all had found an occupation that provided them a living and, more important, a continuation of Carleton’s mission.
When he retired, Carleton set up a trust. Daniel had finished his undergraduate degree in management and his master’s degree in Investment Banking and Asset Management. He was put in charge of the trust, and all of the boys were given a share in the trust fund.
The value of the trust fund was estimated to be several billions of dollars. Carleton was a wise investor. Being able to operate in Europe and the US, he was privy to information, taking advantage of stock offerings. He also had input from the men at The Hague. It seemed someone was looking over his shoulder whispering, buy this, or sell that. And maybe there was. The upkeep of the home and providing for the boys was a staggering amount.
On Carleton’s 80th birthday, Steven held a birthday party for Carleton. The plane flew everyone home. This was the first time Carleton had all of his boys and their families in the house at one time. To say they were crowded would be an overstatement. Steven arranged to have tents set up on the property to house everyone.
At night they would sit around a campfire and relive their days at the house. The new boys would ask questions that led to a tour of the bedrooms, the conservatory, the orchard, and the gardens. For a week, Carleton’s sons piled their love on to Carleton. Their boys called Carleton grandfather.
On the last night, Carleton went to bed and was visited by Michael. “Dad, you have shared your life with these boys. Now it is your turn to share your life with me.” Carleton died in his sleep.
In the morning, when Steven went to wake him, he found Carleton with a smile and a tear on his cheek.
His funeral was private. The men whom he had met over the years paid their respect. When Alex, Sal, and Mo looked upon Carleton, they cried. The half-brothers made a plaque with his UN speech and posted it on the wall of the home.
The days that followed were very somber. Again Steven took control. “Dad wouldn’t want us to morn his loss. He would want us to carry on his work. Let’s honor him by continuing to save street children, worldwide.”
It was Ron who made the statement, “We need to find someone for occupying the house and carrying on Dad’s work. We all can help, but there needs to be someone living in the house full time.”
“How will we find that person?”
“Dad and Michael will find that person for us.”
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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