ld not listen to her. She cried, wondering where she had gone wrong. After two years of phone calls and letters to her son and daughter-in-law, Betsy decided that it would be in the child's best interest if he went to live with his Uncle Dennis and Aunt Virginia. Confident that he possessed an arsenal of finely honed psychological skills, Jake agreed without an argument.Welcome to boot camp! Uncle Dennis, a retired Marine, and Aunt Virginia, who was dubbed "Drill Instructor" by her own boys, now had charge of Jake. Having heard of all his misdeeds over a two-year period, the uncle-and-aunt team were mentally, psychologically, and physically ready for this wayward child.The first order of business was to set down the rules of the house. The first rule was simple. "If you miss the school bus, do not wake us up to haul your butt to school. Instead, you will move a pile of firewood from one end of the farm to the other. When you are through moving and stacking the firewood, you will then move it back to its original spot. You will continue to do this until the school day is over." The threat worked: Jake never missed the school bus.The next rule was also made clear. "You will not wear those baggy, ragged jeans to school. You will wear the new clothes we purchased for you." This rule was almost immediately challenged. After Jake got off the school bus wearing the tattered jeans, Aunt Virginia immediately stormed to his bedroom with a fluorescent pink permanent marker in hand. She proceeded to write the words "WORK CLOTHES" down the pant legs of the offensive denims.The next rule was easy to understand, yet hard to accept. "If you aregiven a job to perform, don't complain about it." This rule was challenged many times, until Jake finally realized what Uncle Dennis was doing. One spring day, Jake was asked to mow the lawn. After one hour, he complained that the work was too hard and that he was getting tired. "Okay," said Uncle Dennis. "Put aw...
