Dear Reader,
Today did not go as planned. But, then, I think it would be safe to say that none of my days go as planned! I didn't sleep as late as I have been, and I took care of a lot of phone calls before I even got out of bed. I got dressed then, and put on my makeup and did my hair, something that I'm really trying to start doing regularly. I am not sure why, but I can hardly keep myself focused on getting my makeup,on! And I have this down, pat. Five minutes! That's all it is. But I want to stop and do something else almost constantly. Trying to make myself stay on task for even this small thing is really hard.
Then I got a text from our son asking if I wanted to meet for lunch. I was happy to be able to meet him and have lunch together and a great conversation. Then, we were standing by the car talking when a young man, 30's maybe, came up with two little boys in a double stroller and asked if he could ask us for some help in getting a place for him and his boys to stay. This is the story, and I don't have any way at this point to know how much is true. But he says he came here from Arizona because he'd been offered a job. But he got here and the job didn't pan out. He can't stay at the Salvation Army because he got in an altercation (the other guy's fault) and now he's banned from going to Salvation Army places everywhere. He was staying at a cheap hotel nearby. He said there was one a little cheaper near it, but it had a lot of drug activity and he didn't want his boys there. They looked to be about 8 months and 2 years old.
I am a big believer in taking Jesus seriously when He says to give to those who ask, and I am in a financial position where I am able to help. So I suggested we all get in my SUV and drive to the hotel and I could pay for two nights and then see what could be figured out. He looked like he was right on the edge of desperation. My son handled the matter really well. He told him that he was going to have to ask him to take off his jacket, which he did immediately, to check him for,weapons. I would never have even thought of this! Then he checked his backpack and told him to leave it in the back of the car where he would not have immediate access to it. He handled it so professionally, you'd have thought he was a police officer or something! The man's backpack was full of diapers and juice cups! Kind of broke my heart.
We got to the hotel and there was a man there at the clerk's desk who seemed to be high on something, but was being nice. The clerk was a very well put-together young woman who greeted them cheerfully by name. He has not been able to look for work because he doesn't have a babysitter for the boys. He found out about one woman, but a friend did a background check and he didn't like what it showed, so he didn't use her. I asked him how he was on food and he told me he had some crackers and some juice left. So.my son and I went to a store and got several days' worth of groceries for,them and took them back to the hotel. I told him that I would watch the boys while he and my son took the groceries to his room. I took several pictures of,the boys ... just in case. I also kept the plastic wrapping from some crackers that the 2year old had in case fingerprints were needed. The boys were very comfortable with him and, if anything is amiss ... well, I just hope that nothing is amiss!
I tell you that I have had my eyes opened a lot since moving here. I've had housekeepers from the wrong side of the tracks and some physical plant workers who are pretty rough characters. And I've learned that there is a side to life in which there are no good choices, just choices that are not as bad as other choices. I've got a call in to a pastor I know in town to see what can be done to help them. I'm sure I'll learn more of the story later, like ... where's the mother! But the immediate need was to relieve him of worrying about whether they'd have a roof over their head tonight or food to eat. I told my mother about them and she wants to help keep them in the hotel for a few nights. She can really come through in a pinch. What is very sad, though, is knowing what a fine line he's walking in terms of keeping his kids. It wouldn't take much for someone to report him and a government agent deciding he wasn't able to take care of the children and removing them from his custody.
All of that took some time, and then I had to go back to the store to lick up a few more groceries for us. You want to hear something funny? You know I wanted to fry plantains last night, but they didn't have any at the store? Well, they did have some at this store, so I bought a couple for me. But I forgot to keep them separate and so the poor guy has got a couple of hard, huge, green bananas there! He's probably wondering what kind of cruel joke that was! :-) I bought some more and brought them home but, by then I was too tired to fix them!
I have to drive in to see my counselor tomorrow. We have a limited time left and so I'm going to suggest that we focus on doing EMDR on two things. One, of course, are memories involving my mom. One or two nightmares a week is NOT good! The other us when my husband, then my boyfriend, quit loving new and broke up with me after several ominous months during which I could feel him pulling further and further away, I have bad dreams often, one this morning, that are just theme and variation on what happened. I was really traumatized by it and I think I need to walk through the memories again doing the EMDR.
Well, that's it for now. Tomorrow is so impossible that it doesn't even seem to make sense to make a to-do list! But being moderately OCD I know there will be no sleep tonight until there is a to-do list! Didn't exercise today again ... but I did find the swimsuit which had gotten in after all.
Take care and have a great day tomorrow. Or, if that's too much pressure, then have a moderately okay day tomorrow!
Cheers!
Lisa
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