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"We had questions ourselves about what we were doing," confesses Leslie. "Were we shortchanging our own children? We were definitely concerned about the example the big boys were showing, but in the end, I think the notion of actually helping people is of greater value than anything else."Adds Michael, "We felt our decisions had real consequences. If these boys started to go in the wrong direction, they could die." Michael and Leslie became determined to see that they all go to college.
Then, in 2000, the Rosens separated. "It's hard to put your finger on what causes such things," says Michael, but he insists it had nothing to do with the boys, who responded by assuming true big-brother roles. "It was a tough time for Ripton and Morgan, and we helped them get through it," says Kindu. "We kept telling them that Michael and Leslie were going to get back together, and eventually they did."
The summer the Rosens reconciled after two years apart, Michael took Leslie, Ripton and Morgan to China and Vietnam for three weeks. While there, they telephoned Kindu, then 17, and asked him to move into the penthouse and take care of things for them.
It was a turning point. "This was a leap across boundaries to trusting someone the way you trust family," says Michael. They were now permanently bonded. The boys would never be officially adopted, but they would always be sons to Michael and Leslie.
As college application time approached, it turned out some of the boys had misrepresented their academic performance to the Rosens. Michael gathered them for a summit none has forgotten. "I want you to have a future," he declared. "I don't want you to end up on the street." Carlos, who'd been avoiding school altogether, moved into the penthouse and enrolled in an educational center called The Door to get his GED.
Phil, who needed 12 credits to graduate, also moved in. "Leslie would sit me down with a laptop and make me do all the homework for my classes," he says. "Sometimes it would take eight hours." One course required a museum visit. Leslie enlisted her mother, a volunteer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The first sentence of Phil's subsequent report -- "I went to the Metropolitan with my grandmother, which is an art expert" -- still makes her smile.
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