December 17, 2008

Happy days at ‘home’

Former resident recalls years spent at Mount St. Vincent Home

Special to the Denver Catholic Register

This fall, Larry Murphy Mingo, 25, stopped by Mount St. Vincent Home for a visit.

Larry lived at the northwest Denver home for children operated by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, from 1989-96. His brother, Rico, joined the home two years later. Both were part of the home’s day treatment and, later, its residential programs.

Home administrators sat down with Larry, his 4-year-old son Andre and Andre’s mother, Angela Miller—to catch up on the former resident’s life.

Life at Mount St. Vincent’s
As a boy, Larry had arrived to the home because both his parents were in prison. He missed his brothers and sisters. His first day at the home he cried and said he just wanted to be with his family. Later, when his younger brother Rico also joined the home, Larry realized he had to start setting a good example for his younger sibling. But he still missed his sisters and parents, so he would run away to the nearby Safeway and ask employees to call old phone numbers—they would, but they would also call Mary Maher, the home’s front desk receptionist.  Whenever Larry ran away, Mary would call Safeway and that’s where he’d be found.

Eventually his out-of-control behavior caught the attention of then administrator Sister Daniel Stefani, who Larry remembers as “an angel of mercy, but tough.” After an especially rough day, she sat Larry down, and struck a bargain with him—if he would start to regulate his behavior, positively influence his little brother, and if he started listening and obeying, she would do everything she could to put him in contact with his family.

Both sides kept the bargain, though Larry admits, “I was still a handful.”  Sister Daniel set up dinner with his siblings’ foster families once or twice a week for Larry and Rico—and there were regular trips to Cañon City to visit his mom and dad.

“I didn’t believe at first folks were really looking out for me,” Larry said, “but she said it would be in our best interests to keep our promises to each other.  She saved my life.”

Larry graduated from the campus school, then attended Centennial School in the neighborhood. The younger children at the home looked up to him.

“I was the ‘big man off campus’ at age 12,” he recalled with a chuckle.

Larry loved doing the things that all children enjoy—playing sports, going up to “the lodge” with the staff, hiking, fishing, learning to shoot a bow and arrow, which he described as, “Awesome—so cool.” 

He went roller skating, learned to swim, and held his first girlfriend’s hand. He excelled at basketball and football, and would go with pals out to “the Great Forest,” as he called the rows of trees nearby.

“It was still a struggle” he admitted. “I remember telling some people I hated this place, but it did give me a chance to be normal.”

Life after Mount St. Vincent’s
From Mount St. Vincent’s, Larry remembers moving to different foster homes, “7 or 8 times,” until he ended up at a group home run by Shiloh. He went to Columbine High School where he excelled in football, track and basketball. He attended the prom, graduated with a 3.2 GPA and was part of two state champ football teams. At graduation, he emancipated at age 18. Larry credits his caseworker, Walter Reed, for getting him through school.

Larry attempted college, but wasn’t emotionally ready. He fell in with a tough crowd, had his own brush with the law and then, while out walking his dog one day, met Angela, now his fiancé.

Today, Larry is enrolled at Metropolitan State College of Denver and is employed as a metal worker.

The pope picture
Before leaving the home, Larry showed his son and fiancé the photos of himself talking to the pope when John Paul II visited Mount St. Vincent’s in 1993. In the chapel, he walked them through that day, showing them where the pontiff stood, sharing what he said—a Swahili greeting that all the kids practiced—and describing what that big day was like.

But he talked more about the ordinary days at the home. Larry showed them where he chipped his tooth on the gym floor playing dodge ball and where he met famed Denver Nuggets players like David Thompson and Alex English “and the greatest Nuggets coach, Doug Moe.” 

On the way out, he gave the receptionist Mary a big hug and thanked her with a voice choked with emotion.

“Looking back,” he said, “it was a great thing they did for me—coming back now, it feels like coming home.”