I want to make this clear from the beginning, I am not writing these articles for your sympathy. I am writing to tell the side of the story that everyone seems to forget. Everyone knows Jim Reedy as the figure head of the Kids' Center. What those people attacking my father fail to realize is that it just doesn't affect my parents, it also affects their children. By attacking my parents, you are also attacking us, and we are a hell of a lot more spiteful than they are.
This is my story. My counter defense. To those that this will affect, I am sorry, but if you want to mess with my family, you're also messing with me. I have been told that, "I can think for myself." Well, let us see just what my thoughts can produce.
As I mentioned in my last article, To The Town That My Family Has Given Everything To, and I am going to state this bluntly, I gave up my childhood in order for your children to have one. Yes, there were many other volunteers that made the Kids' Center possible, but who do you really think was doing all the manual labor? My brother and I, the Reedy boys. From the time that we were able to hold a mop, we were the ones making things happen.
All of the cleaning, all of the setting up, serving food and drinks, making sure events ran smoothly--we did it all. Community days, we took a week out of our lives to set up. Movie nights and dances, we had to set up and clean up. Bingo and Craft Classes, we had to call bingo and assist with making the crafts. We helped clean and maintain the park that we built for this town. Hell, I even helped Ann Marie Quader, the mayor of Burgettstown, campaign for the position. We did everything.
Community Days were always the worst. Waking up early every morning, keeping in mind we were young, adolescence age, we weren't used to this. We spent our entire week bringing in pieces of the dance floor to put together, setting up tents, preparing food, sweeping out the parking lot, picking up garbage, working booths, running around like chickens with our heads cut off for people. It was all a lot for young kids.
We did this for a huge chunk of our lives, and by the time we were 14-years-old, we were completely burnt out. At that point, we had had it. We could take no more. I always thought that the Kids' Center ruined my life, but it wasn't the Kids' Center, it was the people. The people are what ruined my childhood.
My family gave and gave and gave and gave for what? Ungrateful people who wanted more and more and more. Growing up in the Kids' Center showed me what the people in this world are really like. It was a thankless job. They could never get enough, even after they sucked us dry. It still wasn't enough.
I do not regret any of it though. While your parents were the real leeches, your children were the ones who needed the help. We gave them a childhood that would not have been possible without us. DON'T YOU ALL REALIZE THAT? We did not do all of this for you, but for your kids! They should be the ones that matter most to you, but you're more focused on petty gossip.
Most of the people who were once very close to my father, who my father had considered good friends, turned their backs on him because of the word of some vindictive woman spreading blatant lies or because your true side finally came to light. That you never wanted to help the Kids' Center, you wanted to mooch and help yourself.
We helped more families than I could count of my fingers and toes. We helped raise your kids. We gave your kids a safe place to go on the weekends. We gave your kids Christmas presents so that they wouldn't go without any. We took your kids to an amusement park every year for 13 years. They wouldn't have any of this without us. When is this all going to stop? When will you all remember that my parents, Jim and Maryann Reedy, are good people? When will you remember all that they have done for you?
