Age 13 (1955)

[Music] wherefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth my FL three days ago Andrew's mother died thou shal the sudden loss of a mother's love is the nearest experience to the agony of death that a child can suffer it opens a wound in the mind that may never heal if not treated properly it may lead to juvenile delinquency to a mental institution or to a fish crime to his aunt and uncle Andrew's mother was a simple woman a poor woman good woman she worked in a supermarket and she did whatever she could for her second husband and her growing child age 13 what chance will this boy have for a good life who has lived in a broken home on the edge of poverty and then suffered the loss of his mother we commend the soul of our sister departed and we commit her body to the ground Earth to Earth ashes to ashes dust to dust don't leave me don't leave me mother don't be dead mother to Andrew his mother was almost the whole world a great ideal a source of inspiration and a fountain of approval and she liked the radio she would listen to it for hours in her house the radio was always playing but the day she died a strange thing happened a coincidence the radio stopped playing it was still on but no station came in such a simple coincidence can mean a great deal to the imaginative and superstitious Mind of a child it meant something very important to Andrew whose mind refused to accept the reality of her death instead he fought with all his senses with every fiber of his being to bring her back to life to recreate her image he looked for her image in the mirror and turned it around the room as if it were a search light that could pierce the darkness of her death more bad luck well I'm going to bed got to work in the morning we still got to eat you know Andrew's stepfather was not a cruel man he just didn't understand stand he had never had any children of his own he was embittered by life he worked hard for small pay and what little affection he was capable of he preferred to shower on his cat I was wondering could I sleep here with you tonight in her bed are you crazy well what are you waiting for go to bed in his loneliness and out of his longing an idea occurred to Andrew if he could fix his mother's radio perhaps he could bring her back to life to do this he began to study and to steal his tools came from the school Workshop each child is an unique individual and his problem is individual Andrew was deeply ashamed of his ragged clothes so he only went to school when he thought he could make a good showing to be a radio repair man and it will take four years that was a wonderful report Andrew excellent but you didn't tell us why do you want to become a radio repair man to fix my mother's radio enough of that enough of that I said that's enough of [Applause] that Andrew had a great inner Str and he demonstrated his rebellious nature in a strange way give me another hot dog and more salad he bought more food than he could obviously eat or pay for for his mind had transferred his hunger for love to a hunger for food but his strange Behavior was not going unnoticed the school counselor at the request of the teacher who wanted to help Andrew was keeping an eye on him [Applause] what do you want the volleyball I'm the captain I get the volleyball wait your turn though rebellious Andrew wanted desperately to be liked by others to feel that his schoolmates accepted him as one of them hey come over here unable to get along with the children at school he found some release of tension playing with his little cousin what on Earth you got there see a fish that flies you want to see it Go honest well so were you [Music] see it ought to work now what's you doing fixing the radio it's done it's done you fixed it this was the magic moment for Andrew the moment he believed his mother would reappear would come walking through that door it's not loud enough got to fix a volume control I can hear it I can even dance to [Applause] it it's not loud enough I said that's her address come back come back you got my mother's dresses you can't take them away wait stop come back come back [Music] now Andrew decided to get even he started with a cat [Music] we [Music] the cat was only the beginning of Andrew's effort to strike back [Music] [Applause] go [Applause] [Applause] [Music] what's the big idea keep your hands don't touch me keep away from me I hate you you hear me I hate you Andrew Andrew listen to me if your mother were alive she wouldn't want you to hurt anyone I know I'm sorry I wasn't going to hurt anyone I wasn't in the privacy of the counselor's office office Andrew broke down I know why you're crying Andrew sometimes we cry because we feel sorry for ourselves and that's no good but sometimes we cry because we've lost someone dear to us and that's all right you go ahead cry all you want takes more than one cry to get over something like that your age I used to be a real crybaby myself you were yes look Andrew I'm not going to punish you I only want to help you and I'm going to introduce you to someone else who can help you a psychologist she knows boys and girls like you if I ask her to see you will you let her help you maybe it wasn't going to be easy to help Andrew it broke that's all I'm going to do well Andrew there's a sharpener over there he was hostile he lacked confidence and he was afraid to trust anyone so he tested [Music] her the psychologist gave him room for his Rebellion overlooked his errors at first and built up his desire for her approval now Andrew people see all all sorts of things in these inklot pictures what do you see nothing except maybe a monster is that all you see that's all from a lot of work with Andrew she began to understand him to Andrew the world was a monster he couldn't see the people on the card instead he saw two witches bending over a pot here he saw a giant big and strong he felt weak and small next to him as he did with his stepfather Andrew wanted to be friends with his stepfather but he felt that his stepfather threatened him and this one here he saw little animals rabbits eating then a dish of ice cream this suggested his hunger not for food but for love where Andrew should have seen a female figure he refused to see anything for though he did love his mother he hated her too for having died on him nothing at all no though no group of tests can ever diagnose the mind of a child with certainty when combined with the Insight warmth and understanding of the psychologist they may point the way to the true needs of a child there was hope for Andrew but the Reconstruction of his character would take a long time the counselor using the returning of the gun as an excuse decided to see what could be done in the meanwhile to improve Andrew's life at home there was some truth in what the stepfather had to say he said that he was a poor man it was all he could do to keep a roof over his head he didn't know what to do he gave Andrew whatever he could afford but Andrew spent it all on his radio he felt Andrew was a smart boy old enough to take care of himself I did when I was 13 He said so why can't he it's the school counselor owner he wants Andrew to show him the house okay Andrew I'm ready for the tour if you are she cleans the house they've been talking about getting married well do you like her well she's all right I guess this is my room that's my mother's radio I ought to beat The Living Daylights out of you leave him alone he didn't mean no harm way them kids been making fun of him i' have done the the same thing myself get to your room you get that nip for the cat like I told you you bet [Music] one morning the thing the counselor and the psychologist were afraid of happened open that hand open up I'll break you a stealing I'll break you a steeling if I have to break every bone in your body you hear me every bone in your body with the destruction of the radio the real world came crumbling down Andrew retreated deeper than ever into the distorted world in his mind when now he wanted to kill his stepfather he could not carry out this act of murder in reality so he set out to do it by Magic in his Twisted mind Andrew was drowning his stepfather unto almighty God we commend the soul of our sister departed and we commit her body to the ground Earth to Earth ashes to ashes dust to dust the Mur was done and Andrew disappeared he had intended to return the soldering iron he was on his way to getting well but now his seat was empty and his absence was reported to the juvenile department okay we'll keep in touch with you he's sure a sweet looking kid any ideas where he might be run away that's all his aunt says he's been gone four days hello son what brings you here [Music] Andrew was on the Run running away from the murder he had committed in his [Music] mind and wherever there were loud noises violence or the sadistic suggestion there was am one high-pitched piercing note away from real [Music] tragedy Glory GL I GL me Glory Hallelujah glad I glad [Music] [Music] GL GL [Music] hey get hello to him will you why the kid sound asleep hey there man look at him [Laughter] go you never know how much the little things you do for children mean to them at this point Andrew was an animal and though of course there were many factors which combined to bring him to this house he later said that in his confusion this was the only place where he had any hope of love and this because of what a little girl had done for him one day with her twinkling eye and her flying fish Andrew what happened I'm hungry where you been in the moment of this genuine awkward Embrace they decided they would like Andrew to live with them they contacted the school counselor to help them carry out the adoption is this what you want too Andrew yes oh yes he resumed his work with a psychologist and began to discuss his problems more honestly allowing her now to help him and his answers improved he saw the people not only as individuals working on a ranch but as a family too and he identified the woman as and that's the mother okay you guys let's go you you you on that side you you you on this side come on let's go ready on the double let's go boys without letting the other kids know that Andrew was getting special attention the counselor got him into the game his confidence gradually returned and in the workshop he began to win the approval of the children himself in a very simple [Music] way and in his new home Andrew showed the first signs of winning his serious inner struggle Daddy got me a kitten see in this moment his anger melted and he found himself capable of returning the love and affection that had been showered upon him that had in fact given him another chance to live at the age 13 oh