- an extremely hard post to write...extremely hard -

i received permission from our son dustin, to post this prior to doing so

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this' something i've written up to give to friends & family about an upcoming open house for dustin - please read it & pray for our family heavily [extremely hard] on december 10 - thinking about what's coming up, causes me to truly think...i can't do this - dustin, i know you're reading this & want you to know that even though you made a horrible judgment call, we'll get through this - it's the hardest thing we've ever had to go through as a family & pray for god to help us through as i know he will - we're there for you in whatever way we can help, but just know that your help comes from the lord & he's the one you'll ultimately have to turn to - we love you more than you know - we're a team

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back in january, dustin & an acquaintance committed an armed robbery here in noblesville - dustin wasn't caught, but told someone he knew what he’d done & it got back to us & i’m the one that turned him in [something i never want to do again!] - it’s been almost a year & on december 10 he’ll be sentenced & is facing up to 11 years in prison - this’ the first time he’s been in trouble with the law, but since he was armed, the judge can sentence him to anything from 6 years probation to 11 years in prison, so we’re not sure what the outcome will be
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he’ll turn 23 on december 4 & we wanted to have an open house for him so friends & family could come over, just to encourage him for what lies ahead, as this might be the last time they’ll see him for a while - this is a come & go type open house, so please stop by when you can [even if it’s for a few minutes] - there’ll be snacks, finger foods & drinks provided, so hope to see a lot of you there!!
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he knows what he did was wrong, but can’t change what he’s facing, so please come & let him know he’s not alone & we’re all there to see him through...because this’ not what his life’s about & it never has been...it’s about what he does with his life from here on out!
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no gifts are necessary, but we’re requesting everyone bring a note of ‘what dustin means to them’ to leave with him, reminding him how loved & appreciated he is
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we want to say, that anything given monetarily, will be going into an account that he’ll draw on while he’s ‘away’ as he’ll have to buy everything he needs while ’in’ [ie: soap, tooth brush, toilet paper, deodorant, etc.], as he can’t take anything with him.
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DATE:
saturday, december 6, 2008
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LOCATION:
11188 giddings place
noblesville, IN 46060
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TIME:
1-4 PM