Ad, from the day he was born, has pushed boundaries. No was never in his vocabulary. We'd catch him grabbing the stubbies and having a beer from an early age. Of course, it wasn't encouraged, but it made for a great shot.

Gotta love the 80's moment though. The orange cupboards are particularly special, let alone the yellow rotary phone. Oh wait, I mighta cropped that, but it was there. Behind the beer-guzzlin' toddler is a sign that says DIAL 9-1-1 as it was just brought in that year.

He's 23 now. Reminds me a lot of Stephie's boy, Jake. When he was 3, he took his Dad's truck for a spin and crashed through a fence and into a house. He has always been full of life and feisty stories. My Mom has always referred to him as the storyteller, given the gift by my grandad who was born beside the Blarney Stone in Ireland. From a young age, he could look you in the eye and tell such a tall tale with those big brown eyes that it broke your heart not to believe him.

I remember one particular incident when he told me, at age 9, that he'd been in a knife fight at school with 6 other boys but he fought them all off with nothing more than ninja moves. Wild imagination, but told with such sincerity, you would have sworn he believe it to be true.

He went into a rough patch in his teen years...the whole works: drugs, drinking, assault, stealing cars and nearly bankrupting his parents when he stole their credit cards. His assault charge was well-meant, if not ill-advised. He saw a girl being hit by her boyfriend and clocked him. It was a lucky shot, but he permanently damaged the boy's eye. He spent some time in some juvenile detention centres and some provincially-ordered wilderness camps. There have been many times over the years that we truly worried where he'd end up.

Which is why I'm telling this story. A couple years ago, he was fortunate enough to be taken under the wing of a electrician friend. One who took no crap, and got him on the straight road more than we ever thought possible. He's living in another town now, but has a nice little apartment and an apparently gorgeous girlfriend (although that's never been an area where he lacked.) Today, he received his electrician's ticket. He's our success story, and the reason I know these troubled kids can turn. If he can grow up, anyone can.