I met your son today, and he is not O.K.

My daughter and I went out to buy some hay for her rabbits around 7 or so tonight and I almost hit a wounded creature. It was truly horrible! I was coming up to a busy intersection en route to Pet Smart, and I barely missed a person! I'm old, and when lights shine in my eyes, it's hard for me to see things. As I nearly and thankfully missed him, I realised I had almost mashed a young man holding a sign. The sign said something about being homeless and willing to improve. My daughter exclaimed "How sad, I wonder if he was kicked out by his parents?" I said, "We don't know, but maybe so." She asked "Can we help him Mom?" I said "Surely there is something we can do. We will stop and I will talk to him on our way back from Pet Smart. He is definitely going to get into trouble if he keeps doing what he is doing here. He might get hit and killed." So, we finished our run to Pet Smart, and on our way back I kept my word. At first, we thought the kid had already been picked up by the police. I parked at the nearby dollar store and scanned the area. We spotted him sitting dejectedly on a bench in front of another store. I crossed the street with the ten bucks we could spare in hand. (Rabbits gotta eat, dog, cat & crab to think of too. ...oh yeah, plus us.) I carefully approached the young man, noting that I wasn't hit with the stench of a person afflicted with alcoholism. When he looked up, I was horrified to see that he had a black eye. He was about the same age as one of my older daughters, I reflected. I couldn't help being distraught when I saw his wounded face! I asked him what had happened, and did he have anywhere to stay. As he was telling me his story, a lady that worked in the store came out. She told us that patrons had been complaining etc, yada, yada. I gave her the beady stink eye and said that I certainly had a home and that the young man was leaving too.  Thankfully, the kid did at least have a room at a nearby hotel. As we drove him to the hotel, he told us a little of himself. We discovered that he had been estranged from his Bob Jones University graduate parents for 8 years. His father owns a tree service. He wants to find some work and earn some money, etc. I could tell that the kid was a bit off, but not the deadly dangerous kind of off. I cannot help but be upset and wonder what sort of parents could let their child end up like this? What kind of family could discard their own? Of course, I cannot check his story. I took the kid at face value. I am just shocked. What could possibly be so awful that a parent would not open their home to a child? I'm trying to put myself in their shoes. I am trying hard to think of a reason I would deny any of my daughters succor. I'm sorry. I can't find one. Not one. I am hating myself for not doing more for this lost son of someone. I am hating myself for being afraid to go so far as to offer him a place on our couch while I call places to try to get him some care. I tell myself I did all I could. My first cares must come first. I have a house full of girls and women to protect. A stranger is a stranger, no matter how heart wrenching the plight. So parents of this lost boy, I met your son today. I met your son and he is wounded, He is not O.K.. How can you not be there to help him and care for him? Are you dead?