"Mammer," Les and Baby Cassie
The rest of our week has been an interesting mix of good and bad. Last Friday, I had the girls and a friend in the back seat and we were off to do some pottery painting. About two miles from home, as I was passing through an intersection, another driver decided to make a left hand turn right in front of me. sI couldn’t avoid hitting him. He was headed for the high school parking lot. I had to continue down the road, turn around, and wait for a traffic light before I could join him in the parking lot. I really expected him to flee. However, he waited and acknowledged responsibility for the accident. After letting the driver use my phone to call his parents, I called the police, settled the girls under a shade tree and sat down to wait. The driver, “Jose,” joined me and began talking about himself. Many times in my life I have asked myself why people choose to unburden themselves on me. It’s not that I mind. But, it doesn’t always feel appropriate. Sometimes, there’s just nothing that I can do to help.
So, there Jose and I were, sitting on a large painted rock in front of the high school, getting acquainted. It turns out that Jose was 19 and from Guatemala. His mother had left for the U.S. when he was 9 months old and he had only been reunited with her and his stepfather two years ago. He was at the school to pick up his younger sister from summer school. Jose was nervous because he had damaged his stepfather’s truck. He told me that he was driving on a learner’s permit and asked what I thought would happen to him. I reassured Jose that everyone makes mistakes and I was sure his stepfather would forgive him. Some of you can probably tell where this is going. Jose then decided to tell me that he was undocumented. I honestly didn’t know what to say and was saved by the arrival of the police officer.
To summarize, the officer asked Jose for identification and immediately called another officer to come and arrest him. As though the accident hadn’t been enough stress, he was cuffed in front of the three little girls, and just as Jose’s younger sister was arriving. I asked the officer what would happen and he said Jose would be taken to an INS detention center, would be given a court date, and would probably decide not to make an appearance in court. I felt horrible about all this, especially as I tried to comfort Jose’s hysterical sister. I later learned that Jose had been previously cited for driving without a license. A taxi ride home gave the girls another exciting topic to discuss and ice cream bars took care of any remaining trauma. Estimated damage to my car is $9800.
The weekend was quiet. Lacey and I were home alone while Les and Cassie were attending his Mom’s funeral in Ohio. They arrived home Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday brought a little more excitement. Cassie was going to attend art camp at the Candy Factory in Manassas. This was a five-day camp. But, I had talked to the manager on Monday and explained why Cassie was out of town and we worked everything out. Cassie had slept over at Sydney’s and I was packing her lunch box. Everything was calm and quiet. Suddenly, there was a noise like a jack hammer and the family room started vibrating. I knew it wasn’t the Quantico firing range, and there wasn’t any construction going on next door. So, I ran down to the basement and discovered the sump pump shaking like crazy and smoking. I unplugged every cord I could find but the smoke didn’t stop. I called 911 and tried to explain that I just need a little help. Three fire trucks and an ambulance responded. This was around 8 a.m. Now, if you ever want to get back at your neighbors for late night parties or barking dogs, this is the way to go.
About a dozen firemen descended on the house, sweating in all their gear and swinging axes. I had grabbed Lacey out of bed and she was pretty stunned. It turned out that the sump pump had caused an electrical fire. The investigating fireman told me repeated times that if I hadn’t been home, half the house would have burned. I guess that was reassuring.
I put the girls in the car, stopped for a fast food breakfast, and took Cassie to camp. We were greeted by the instructor and manager, who stared at me open-mouthed. Well, I had one kid in pajamas and another with maple syrup running down her shirt. My hair was uncombed and I had bits of mud and cut grass pasted to my legs. I felt like somebody off a very bad and very sad TV reality show. I said, “Well, we had a little excitement at our house this morning.” Then, I just shut up because I figured they wouldn’t believe me.
The gleaming red fire truck parked in front of our house!
Sadly, we had to have our 16 year-old dog, Kawasaki, put to sleep the same day. She has been a wonderful and loving companion. We will miss her. Sydney and Cameron loaned us a book about dog heaven, and Cassie and Sydney are planning a funeral. Cassie told me that she believes as kids grow up and outgrow their “childish spirits,” their spirits go up to heaven and become young angels to keep the pets company. I thanked her for this sage advice and later asked her to not let her whole childish spirit go because it’s okay to have a little when you’re an adult.Mommy told everybody she wasn’t ready for another dog yet. Then, we read in the paper about the shelter being overcrowded because 77 cats and dogs were confiscated from a townhouse. Some mournful country western song asking, “Why me, God?” started playing in my head.
We had been taking the dog to the vet on a daily basis. I took Lacey along once and she was intrigued by the whole experience. As she studied the exam room, she noticed that the air conditioner was on. She pointed to the vent in the floor and asked me in Chinese if that was a toilet for dogs. Given that squatty potties are her frame of reference, this really made perfect sense!
The past couple days have been quieter. We had an electrician and plumber here to fix all the problems in the basement. The plumber is returning tomorrow because the master bath is leaking into the kitchen. No biggie.
So, every day with Lacey is just better and better. She has spoken her first two complete sentences. They were, “I like Cassie,” and, “Cassie, I love you.” I guess that’s fair! She continues to sort of flit from toy to toy, becoming intensely interested in something new for a couple days and then moving on to something else. She does love dolls. She also enjoys playing cards, doing puzzles and building. We have pretty much transitioned to calling her "Lacey" fulltime now. She kept asking us to call her "Cassie," so she is happy being called "Lacey." We had her physical this week – that took 3 appointments. She is very healthy and is now registered for kindergarten. We have been visiting the Chinese restaurant every week to get some help with translation. Imagine what this child must be thinking about life in America. Car crashes, real life arrests, fire trucks at the house and indoor dog toilets!
The girls wrestling
Lacey helping me organize cabinets
I make an effort to spend a little time alone with Cassie. Her two picks for our time together this week were participating in a reenactment of a suffragette parade, and watching a TV special on the homeless children in Orange County. That's my girl!
Cassie wearing her suffragette banner
Everyone knows I’m an optimist. So, here’s the glass more than half full for the week. Bryan, Rachel, Cooper and Maddie all got to meet Lacey as they were en route to Grandma’s funeral. Nobody was hurt in the car accident and I was grateful that the driver wasn’t one of my students. The fire caused minimal damage and during the fire, I got to sit and have a cup of coffee with my wonderful neighbor, Mickey. We did enjoy 16 years with our wonderful dog.
Finally, I was lucky to recognize the therapeutic value of writing at a young age! And, those 77 cats and dogs at the shelter won’t be released for adoption until the end of September.
Cassie's "Georgia O'Keefe" artwork at the art show in Manasss
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