Friday, October 01, 1999

Teen finds a second home

---

BY JOHN JOHNSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Everyone has a story worth telling. At least, that's the theory. To test it, Tempo is throwing darts at the phone book. When a dart hits a name, a reporter dials the phone number and asks if someone in the home will be interviewed. Stories appear on Fridays.

        The Miller family of Deerfield Township recently posed for a family portrait. Angie, 28, sat with 2-year-old Sydney in her lap and 6-year-old Courtney beside her. Tony, 29, stood behind his wife and daughters, and alongside Mike Vanscoy, who is 16. Only reluctantly did Mike agree to be included. He told the Millers he felt like he was intruding.

        But they would hear none of that. Mike, after all, is now “a branch of our family,” Mr. Miller says.

        The story can't be told without hearing from two families. One loves Mike so much, they were willing to let go. The other cared enough about Mike to welcome him into their lives.

        Judy Adams is Mike's mother. She worries that people might not understand how she could allow her son to live with another family his last two years of high school. So understand this: It was an agonizing decision.

        She and her family live in New Vienna, a rural, one-traffic-light, two-gas station town between Wilmington and Hillsboro, about an hour's drive from the Millers. Mike has a sister who turns 13 Saturday, and a 19-year-old brother who attends Wilmington College.

        “Michael wanted a better opportunity with school, sports, everything,” his mother says.

        She watched as Mike struggled through his first two years of high school. His mother felt that given the right circumstances, he could excel. But she and Mike's stepfather, Gary, have good jobs, and moving wasn't practical.

        Yet Mike persisted, as teens do. What if he could live with someone else?

        No way, his mother said.

        The discussion continued, back and forth, for months. Then a mutual friend of the two families, who knew Mike's situation, approached the Millers, who were acquaintances of Mike's family.

        Soon Judy Adams was on the phone, talking to the Millers about her son.

        “I hung up and bawled,” she says. “Because I knew this would probably happen.”

        Part of her desperately wanted to hang on to her boy. But what it came down to was this: “I want to give him every opportunity to succeed in life,” she says.

        “They're wonderful people,” she says of the Millers. “I'm not just going to send my kid off to anybody. It took special people.”

        Every day that Tony Miller goes to work, he sees young people whose lives have gone awry.

        As a corporal with the Warren County Juvenile Detention Center, he deals with kids who have raped or stolen or tried to kill.

        Such insanity, Mr. Miller believes, often can be traced to people's lack of commitment — to their faith, to their marriage, to their children. .

        Tony and Angie, who have been married seven years, say their Christian faith directs them to be a positive influence on others. So they quickly decided to make a commitment to Mike Vanscoy, inviting him to come live with them.

        “It was just something we needed to do,” says Mrs. Miller, a day-care provider for two toddlers, plus her own children.

        In mid July, with financial arrangements worked out, Mike moved into the Millers' log home on a trial basis. On Aug. 25, he began his junior year at Kings High School.

        The adjustment has been smooth, the Millers say. At first, 6-year-old Courtney wasn't sure what to call the teen-ager sharing her home. Now she calls him her brother.

        They say Mike is well-mannered and quiet. Earning a spot on the Kings High football team helped him make friends. Says Mr. Miller: “We couldn't ask for a better group.”

        “He's pretty well-grounded,” Mrs. Miller says. “He has his own values. He comes from a Christian family, also.”

        Judy Adams still sees her son every week. He comes home on weekends when he can. She talks to him on the phone every night. She's involved in every decision that involves him.

        He is very much missed at home in New Vienna.

        One recent evening, after school had let out and football practice was over, Mike talked about his situation.

        “I just knew I wasn't happy where I was. I've met a lot of incredible people here who've helped me out a lot.” They include friends, coaches and parents, he says.

        He is especially grateful to the Millers. “I fell into good hands,” he says.

        He wants to go to college someday. A fullback and linebacker, he's hoping he'll be good enough to earn a football scholarship.

        At the homecoming game last week at Kings High School, two families sat together. One family raised Mike Vanscoy; the other opened their home to him. This season, they're cheering for Mike on the football field. More importantly, they're rooting for him to win in life.

       

---

Riverfront plan applauded, but funding needed
Proposals for 'The Banks' as link to downtown
Schools crack down on Pokemon trading
I-71 ramp to 275 to close for weekend
Reds going to town's head
State riding brakes on remedies for Ohio 73
Alzheimer's victim believed dead in Tennessee
Anti-abortion group gives $25K to Winburn
Booth indicates he'll back property-tax rollback
More getting splattered in Ludlow mudslinging
Robber beats store owner with gun
Cincinnati's Century of Change
Internet terrific resource for students
Recommended Web sites for students
Teen finds a second home
Vester moves to Fox News
Brightman's lovely voice can't carry show
GET TO IT
Publishing revelation
Mayor's race clash among titans
Camp Springs ponders becoming city
Covington regroups after low test scores
Ex-jailer guilty of sexual battery on female inmate
Grant Co. backs off biblical posting
Maker pleads guilty in drum explosion
Man hurt as crash ends chase
TRISTATE DIGEST