I was a 6 month graduate, living in the apartments, and still going in for meetings in Cleveland when the Seed left. I was definately feeling that it was time for me to make a break and out of the blue they made the break for me. I felt such a sense of relief and freedom. Many others did also. I went to the rap along with lots of others the day they were moving and we all talked about how we would continue in Cleveland and make a difference in the world. This was actually something that people believed at the time. During my time at the Seed, there were a few people who moved away and occasionally came back for a visit, and they were respected and admired. I always knew I was not a lifer, and I had examples to look up to. I just wanted to get what I needed to be happy and then move on. This was my chance!
We were so optomistic, but things fell apart pretty quickly. People would still call down to the Seed and report to staff about things that were happening. Staff would tell them to kick certain people out of the apartments and it was done! It was an awful time for a lot of people. Seed kids were going up to other Seed kids and telling them that they didn't want to have anything to do with them based on advice from people in Florida. It was unbelievable.
Patty went around telling people that family ties were easy to break and that the REAL strong people were going to move down to Florida. Many did. I always knew that they were the dependant ones and I didn't want anyone else controlling my life ever again. Some people went down and left again pretty quickly because they said it was really like a prison down there.
Things eventually calmed down in Cleveland. Many people moved on, but a lot of us stayed friends. We are spread out through the Cleveland and Columbus area. We get together occassionally and I would say that we have a very strong bond due to our common history. Not that we sit around and talk about the Seed much. We have full and complete lives. Going to the Seed was a part of our teen years. We talk about it like that.
Five years after the Seed left I married someone who was also a Seed graduate. We've been married and happy for 23 years. We visited Florida several times. We even went to one of their reunions. We sat with Scott and had a blast. He was one of the staff members that was down to earth and had realistic expectations. He used to tell us in the apartments that he didn't expect us to be like staff just to behave when we had newcomers.
Anyway back to the break up of the Seed. When we went to Florida and talked about some of the things that happened to everybody in Cleveland I actually had people tell me that it wouldn't be like that in Florida. I knew at the time that they were so naive. I knew it would happen to them and probably even be worse because they had so many long years of dependency. We had a year or two at the most. I wish them well finding their way without the Seed. It's about time they made the journey into the real world.
