Innkeep
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2008
- Messages
- 1,273
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You find yourself carrying a load of personal laundry upstairs to the guest area.
I have had a very remarkable few weeks. One of my dear cousins was quite ill for a week, then when he was expected to recover, he died in his sleep. Thus ensued lots of extra "family time" as well as the arrival of my brother and SIL from afar. They interspersed themselves with the regular guests, and as opposed to some of you with families who you sort of hide from or ban from staying, these siblings always seem to get along with other guests, converse, have a good time, and learn more about some of my frequent guests than I have learned from them on multiple visits. Of course, having these two particular bodies in the mix for whatever reason breaks down my usual rhythm and although happy to see them, I am also happy to see them go.
In the midst of this crisis, the condo I vacated 6 years ago finally sold, so I had the last of the cleaning up of the condo to do, moving my piano over here (no real great place for it, but it seems I now have a music room instead of a library), then the closing (not scheduled mid-day like I requested, but mid check-in hours. Arrive at closing to find my realtor's husband had had a heart attack the night before, so a pinch-hitter there with me.
Having time to spend with my widowed cousin, who fills up my car with bounty from her garden, which must be cleaned frozen, distributed amongst my friends, seemingly getting back to normal...
Then Sunday arrives. When I got home from church I noticed a young woman sitting on my porch steps, crying her eyes out. Please note, she did not ring the bell, she did not ask for help or even expect to find anyone home. I walked out and asked her what her problem was. Turns out she's 19 and pregnant. She was having some stomach pains and was worried, so asked her boyfriend to drive her to the hospital. They said some cross words to each other, so he pulled the car over and she got out. She stopped on my front steps when she got too hot and tired, she called a cousin to come pick her up, and was waiting for her cousin to come when I arrived on the scene. I gave her a 7-up and we chatted waiting for the cousin to arrive. She told me she had been in foster care until age 18, then on her 18th birthday she was thrown out into the big wide world without even a legal form of identification. She was very well-spoken, polite, and when her cousin's car showed up I hoped that was the last I'd ever see of her.
Fast forward 3 hours. The doorbell rings. There she is again. Turns out her cousin just "dumped" her at the ER and when she tried to use her cell phone it was out of juice. So all she wanted was to borrow my phone (I'm about a mile from the hospital and about another mile from where she was trying to go to). She "made up" with her boyfriend, asked him to come and get her, but in the mean time, while he was still upset with her he ended up locking his car keys in the car. Turns out they had been living in the car for the past week when his mother's house burned down. Insurance only provided one motel room and there were too many younger kids for them to stay with his mother. So, while keys were locked in the car they no longer had shelter or transportation. He had already called the police, but they do not help stranded motorists unlock their car doors.
Turns out that the boyfriend had gotten his first "good" factory job 6 weeks before in a city 20 miles away, working 8pm to 8am. Much of his salary goes for gas and car payments. She was due to start her first ever job the next day. He walked over from the hotel parking lot. They both apologized for getting themselves in this predicament, but said tempers sometimes flare when you're sleeping in a car. She had already called all the places I could think of that provide emergency shelter and had been told that there was no room. So, I figured by paying the wrecker service I could provide a young couple with both transportation and housing. So I did. It really blew me away when they returned with the receipt so I could know that that's actually what they spent the money on.
I shared the story with some of my friends who suggested some community resources I might try. Turns out that by using some of my "community capital" there was suddenly a vacancy at the YWCA that hadn't been there when she called. So, the last hurdle she has is getting to her job. Turns out that she is working at a call center and needs 2 weeks training given at 6pm to 11pm before starting her day shift. Boyfriend will be at work for 11pm pick-up. So I'm picking her up on the nights he works. Won't be a problem when she goes to day shift. The buses run and he should be around.
Still waiting to get back to normal around here, but thankfully I have time for a nap today, and I think I'll go take it right now.
I have had a very remarkable few weeks. One of my dear cousins was quite ill for a week, then when he was expected to recover, he died in his sleep. Thus ensued lots of extra "family time" as well as the arrival of my brother and SIL from afar. They interspersed themselves with the regular guests, and as opposed to some of you with families who you sort of hide from or ban from staying, these siblings always seem to get along with other guests, converse, have a good time, and learn more about some of my frequent guests than I have learned from them on multiple visits. Of course, having these two particular bodies in the mix for whatever reason breaks down my usual rhythm and although happy to see them, I am also happy to see them go.
In the midst of this crisis, the condo I vacated 6 years ago finally sold, so I had the last of the cleaning up of the condo to do, moving my piano over here (no real great place for it, but it seems I now have a music room instead of a library), then the closing (not scheduled mid-day like I requested, but mid check-in hours. Arrive at closing to find my realtor's husband had had a heart attack the night before, so a pinch-hitter there with me.
Having time to spend with my widowed cousin, who fills up my car with bounty from her garden, which must be cleaned frozen, distributed amongst my friends, seemingly getting back to normal...
Then Sunday arrives. When I got home from church I noticed a young woman sitting on my porch steps, crying her eyes out. Please note, she did not ring the bell, she did not ask for help or even expect to find anyone home. I walked out and asked her what her problem was. Turns out she's 19 and pregnant. She was having some stomach pains and was worried, so asked her boyfriend to drive her to the hospital. They said some cross words to each other, so he pulled the car over and she got out. She stopped on my front steps when she got too hot and tired, she called a cousin to come pick her up, and was waiting for her cousin to come when I arrived on the scene. I gave her a 7-up and we chatted waiting for the cousin to arrive. She told me she had been in foster care until age 18, then on her 18th birthday she was thrown out into the big wide world without even a legal form of identification. She was very well-spoken, polite, and when her cousin's car showed up I hoped that was the last I'd ever see of her.
Fast forward 3 hours. The doorbell rings. There she is again. Turns out her cousin just "dumped" her at the ER and when she tried to use her cell phone it was out of juice. So all she wanted was to borrow my phone (I'm about a mile from the hospital and about another mile from where she was trying to go to). She "made up" with her boyfriend, asked him to come and get her, but in the mean time, while he was still upset with her he ended up locking his car keys in the car. Turns out they had been living in the car for the past week when his mother's house burned down. Insurance only provided one motel room and there were too many younger kids for them to stay with his mother. So, while keys were locked in the car they no longer had shelter or transportation. He had already called the police, but they do not help stranded motorists unlock their car doors.
Turns out that the boyfriend had gotten his first "good" factory job 6 weeks before in a city 20 miles away, working 8pm to 8am. Much of his salary goes for gas and car payments. She was due to start her first ever job the next day. He walked over from the hotel parking lot. They both apologized for getting themselves in this predicament, but said tempers sometimes flare when you're sleeping in a car. She had already called all the places I could think of that provide emergency shelter and had been told that there was no room. So, I figured by paying the wrecker service I could provide a young couple with both transportation and housing. So I did. It really blew me away when they returned with the receipt so I could know that that's actually what they spent the money on.
I shared the story with some of my friends who suggested some community resources I might try. Turns out that by using some of my "community capital" there was suddenly a vacancy at the YWCA that hadn't been there when she called. So, the last hurdle she has is getting to her job. Turns out that she is working at a call center and needs 2 weeks training given at 6pm to 11pm before starting her day shift. Boyfriend will be at work for 11pm pick-up. So I'm picking her up on the nights he works. Won't be a problem when she goes to day shift. The buses run and he should be around.
Still waiting to get back to normal around here, but thankfully I have time for a nap today, and I think I'll go take it right now.