Photo: Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group
The topic turned to Halloween, a particularly enjoyable time in the Bowers family, then turned to birthdays — namely, the 16th one that the newest member of their brood celebrated on that day.
“Guess how many birthday parties he’s had?” Sue Bowers ask rhetorically.
After a moment of silence …
“One,” Dave Bowers says. “Imagine that. I mean, seriously.”
The dark-haired, quiet teenager of medium build and curious eyes has experienced much in his young life that would be hard for many children and adults to imagine. A rough relationship with his father and family, and his mother’s death, propelled him into Contra Costa County’s foster system at 9, an age when kids often can get lost.