Pubdate: Tue, 05 Dec 2006
Source: Independent, The (Massilion, OH)
Copyright: 2006 The Independent
Contact: http://www.indeonline.com/left.php?external=forms/letteredit.php
Website: http://www.indeonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3545
Author: Lori Williams

MOM JUST WANTS KIDS BACK FOR CHRISTMAS

Some Christmas Stories Aren't The Stuff of Hallmark Cards.

They're tough and gritty and involve poor choices and  struggle to change.

They take place not in a gilded church sanctuary, but  in a place 
closer to a cold, smelly stable.

They're about second chances, which some would say is,  after all, 
the real meaning of Christmas.

Patti Gurule found her life spiraling out of control.  She got mixed 
up in drugs, separated from her husband,  lost custody of her three children.

"She had to hit bottom," said her mother, Tootie  Weaver. "Then she 
came to us for help."

Such, Gurule said, is the nature of addiction.

Thanks to Quest Recovery Services, Gurule has been  drug-free for 
more than six months.

She's ready to make a fresh start. More than anything,  she wants her 
children back.

"They only thing the kids say they want for Christmas  is to be back 
home with their mom," Weaver said.

Since February, Gurule's children -- a 17-year-old with  her own 
3-month-old baby, a 14-year-old girl and an  11-year-old boy -- have 
been living with an aunt and an  uncle who have temporary custody. 
Gurule lives with her  mother, works two jobs and continues to attend 
Quest  classes several days a week.

She's paid up all her bills and saved enough money to  rent a home on 
Massillon's northeast side and buy  groceries. A final obstacle to 
the return of her  children Dec. 20 -- the lack of a stove, a 
refrigerator and beds.

The family's old belongings were stored in a friend's  basement which 
flooded. The cheapest they've found the  items now is $250 apiece, a 
pricetag that keeps the  necessities on their wishlist.

"We're trying desperately to make this happen," Weaver  said. "We all 
want the same thing. We want them back  home together."

The entire family has been through a long, rough  journey.

"You have no idea the heartbreak, the sleepless nights,  the days 
spent not knowing what to do to help," Weaver  said. "It's been very, 
very hard on everyone."

Weaver is, however, proud of her youngest daughter for  taking the 
responsibility for turning her life around.

"She's done extremely well," she said. "She's willing  to do anything 
to get her children back."

Even if everyone else, including her children, have  worries about a 
relapse, Gurule doesn't.

"I have no doubts," she said, her voice hard-edged with  resolve. 
"Not anymore."

She has a motivation like the one that long ago drove a  woman 
determined to make a home for her newborn, a  woman who made the best 
of a barn.

Being reunited with her children "means everything to  me," Gurule 
said. "It's the best Christmas gift I could  ever have.
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