To say it's been a hell of a week is putting it mildly. For starters, I went ahead and got the restraining order against the person that has been bothering me. Hopefully this restraining order can be laid firmly in place and she'll have to deal with her own issues and demons and leave me the hell alone. On the Pookie tip, we've decided that we're still going to work on us and not have any official titles, but no screwing around. I love him. All of this restraining order stuff has showed me again how awesome he is.
I started out jogging with Daisy in the park. We didn't get too much done, but we did get something done, which I'm happy about. Later in the week I hit the gym and worked my ass off. I managed to jog my mile in less than 15 minutes (13:54 minutes to be exact!), which is yet another record for me. I'd even discovered that I'd dropped another 3 lbs. While working out, I've been listening to Janet Jackson's "Velvet Rope" cd and it does well at amping me up to run and lift weights. My arms are FINALLY starting to shape up.
Anyway, this week has also been a lot of me catching up on paperwork. I interviewed a rapper named Max Minelli a few weeks ago, so I'm finishing up the article I need to write on him. I'm also kind of behind on some paperwork from work so there hasn't been a lot of fun on my end. On a good note though, I had to meet with a couple of new kids this week. Sometimes I really don't know what to expect from the kids I'm gonna work with, so I go in there blind and hope to be able to help.I got to the home of the first girl and asked a few questions and found out that she's in her mid to late teens and mother of a girl who is a year old. Her guardian made it known that old girl doesn't have her g.e.d., can't go back to high school, and that she needs to get her shit together. I told old girl that I'm a huge advocate of education and I proudly told her that it took me nearly a decade to get my degree, and that I can hold my head high and say that I've got it. I told her that play time is over since she has a child and that she needed to get her stuff together, since the guardian made it known that she wasn't going to keep allowing her to sleep all day while she isn't working or going to school. I made plans with her to hang out next week and work on a life plan for her.
The day after was even more poignant. I had another new girl i had to meet with. She was between 7 and 10. She was beautiful. Smart. Reserved. I sensed confusion and the desire to be accepted. I knew she was loving. I was drawn to her. She was in foster care. I asked if she wanted to talk about her mother and she said no. I asked if she wished she were back home with her mother and she shook her head no. I then stopped asking.This is her first time in foster care. She was hoping to be adopted by a relative. I took her to a playground so we could talk. That's when I became more open with her than I'd ever been with any of my other kids. I told her that I understood. I told her that I know what it's like to wonder why your mom doesn't accept you. I told her that I know times seem bleek. Then I promised her that if she held on that she'd grow up and she'd finally be in control. I told her that she'd get the chance to become the kind of mother she wished she'd had. She was silent.
I wanted to take her home with me. I wanted to give her a bedroom filled with beautiful dolls and teddy bears. I envisioned her being a perfect older sister to Pumpkin. I wanted to adopt her. I wanted to give her the mother she deserved and I wanted her to have the wonderful childhood and mother that I never had. I took her back and we agreed to meet next week as well. I know that Pookie would think I was insane to want to adopt her. I know that right now I've got some things to work on, but I've made a conscious decision to keep her adoption in mind.
Today was pretty cool too. Tomorrow is an event we're all looking forward to, so there's a lot of planning going on for that. Pookie asked me to go to the store where I came across a dude wearing a Kennesaw t-shirt. I asked if he was an alumni and he was. We sat there in the middle of the store and talked for about 10 minutes. It felt awesome to get to talk to another Black person that went to the school around the same time and had a similar experience. He and I exchanged numbers and agreed to be one another's dates at the alumni networking gatherings since we'd both joked about avoiding the events for fear of not knowing anybody. I just got back from seeing another one of my kids and his mom. I'm watching "Fried Green Tomatoes" and I'm taking a nap soon. This has been a great week, just like all the others.
No comments:
Post a Comment