Today is Another Day...

Yesterday was hectic for me. Normally I am in control, but yesterday, I just couldn't get it together for some reason. I felt like a human puzzle. I am truly grateful that I have someone in my life to pick up the pieces.

To start, I left the house yesterday morning to jog. My daughter was at my brother's house and my man was inside asleep. I have done this so many times, so everything is familiar to me. The path that I run, the trees, the sounds, even the way the wind feels across my face as I move. I am halfway through the trail and I see something lying in the path. In the distance, I thought it was a tree branch, so I continue on a little further. As I get closer I could see it moving(it was a snake), so I turn around and ran as fast as I could in the in the direction that I came from. At first I thought that it was following me, so I didn't look back. Then I realized it was not behind me, so I slowed my pace to a brisk walk and headed home. When I got home my man was up brushing his teeth. He could see that I was shaken up a bit. When I told him what happened, I could see the genuine look of concern in his face. So in his effort to make things better, he offered to go with me on another jogging trail not far from my house. I normally don't go there alone because they found a woman dead out there. He hates to go jogging. He would rather work out at the gym, but he got dressed, and we were off. Gotta luv that man!

That was just the beginning. I had a very important meeting yesterday afternoon. I got downtown to my office and realized that I had left my office keys as well as my presentation reports at home. I had 20 minutes to get to the meeting and I live about 45 minutes away. I was having trouble with my cable, so my man was at my house waiting for them. (They came 3 hours later than they said they would come.) When I called him, he said that they had just left and he would come right away. How he made it there in 15 minutes is beyond me, but once again, he was there to save the day.

My friends are used to me being home during the day, and while I was gone, one of my friends, Diva, stopped by with a problem. He only had $10 to his name, he was hungry and had no food at home and he barely had any gas in his car. He was surprised to see my man at my house so early in the day. My man told him that I was not home, so Diva told him that he would come by later since he had someone riding with him. My friend got back in his car and called me from the car. I could tell that something was wrong by the way he sounded. I asked what he needed, and he was too ashamed to tell me in front of his passenger. He called me back as soon as he dropped him off. He said, "I hate to bother you but, I have a dilemma. I need your help. I don't think I have enough gas to make it home. I am parked on the side of the road with $10 in my pocket and I'm starving." I couldn't leave the office at that moment. My man had already called to tell me that Diva stopped by, so I knew something was up. I didn't want to call my man back AGAIN with another problem. He was already doing enough by jogging with me, waiting on the cable guy, and rushing to bring me my keys. So I told Diva to use the money he had to put "a drop" of gas in his tank, and I'd take care of him as soon as I left the office.

Before I could get out of there good, my man called to see if I could meet him for an early dinner because he had to help his mother with something a little later. I told him about the situation with Diva. He told me to call Diva and tell him to meet him at the gas station down the street from where we were meeting to earth. He filled up Diva's car and they met me a few minutes later at the small cafe'. We all ate and my man paid for the meal. When we were leaving, I told Diva to follow us to my place so that I could take him to the grocery store to get what he needed. After he stocked up on all the things he needed we left. When we were leaving the store, my man gave him some money to hold him over until he got paid again. Of course he started crying(he is such a queen) and made a big deal about it. He looked at me smiling and said, "I want to just like you guys when I grow up." I knew that was his way of saying thank you. After we left the store my man and I met back at my house so I could get changed to meet my girl's group. I only had about an hour to get there!

When I got to the girls the room was completely silent. Normally the room is bustling with young energy, but they all sat there with solemn faces. I asked what was wrong, and none of them spoke. They just sat there. I looked around at each of them waiting for an answer, and to make sure that no one was missing. They were all there. Finally, one of them cracked. She just broke down and started crying. I tried to comfort her, but she would not stop crying. She finally calmed down enough to tell me that this would be her last day coming to the center. She said that she woke up last Friday morning and her mother and little sister were gone. She said that it had been almost a week and she hasn't heard from them. No note...no goodbye...just gone! She wanted to call me to help her, but the center would not give her my number. Her grandmother has a house full of people living with her, and she can't afford to take care of anyone else. WTF? She doesn't know her father. She said that there was an eviction notice on the door when she got in on Wednesday. She has been staying with a friend for the last couple of days , but her friend's mom said that she has to go. She has one aunt that lives a few hours away, but she has no idea how to get in contact with her. She called her grandmother for the number, but before she can ask for it, her grandmother just hangs up, or won't answer the phone at all. This little girl has come so far. At 13, she was drinking, smoking, having sex with grown m**, and not going to school. She came to the center because she wanted to change. She said that she had seen so many men come in and out of her mother's house over the years that she thought it was the way to go. I can't stand to see everything that she and I have worked so hard for go up in flames. So I dismissed the girls, and took the girl to her grandmother's house. I was kind of upset at first, when she told me her grandmother had turned her away. When I got there I understood why. The house was small and filthy. There were kids everywhere. There are 4 adults, 3 teenagers, and 7 small children living under one roof ( a 2 bedroom house at that!). The grandmother is the ONLY one in the house that works. She looked so tired. I got the number of her oldest daughter from her. She hugged her granddaughter , and told her that she was sorry, and went back into the house crying with her head down.

I called the number as soon as I got it. Her aunt sounded so joyful and full of energy. I told her the whole story and she said that she would be the as fast as she could. We went back to the one bedroom apartment that the girl shared with her mother and sister, and packed all of her clothes. For a moment, I had forgotten how hard some of these girls have it. They are struggling to survive. The don't want to be products of their environments. She was crying the whole time. I felt sorry for her. I can't imagine being abandoned by my mother. He aunt got there a few hours later with two small children in tow. She seemed happy to see her niece, and she was so upset with her sister. We put all of her things in the back of her SUV and it was time to say goodbye. I promised her that I would come see her when she got settled in, and they were on their way. I might even rent a van and take all the girls.

When I got home, my brother called me and said that he was on his way with my daughter. I was so tired. My daughter came in the house excited and I was trying to figure out why. My brother said that she insisted on taking a shower before she left his house. She ran to her room, and came out in her bathing suit with a beach towel. How could I forget that I promised her that we would go swimming when she got back home? I was too tired to swim, but I didn't want to break a promise that I made to my child, especially after what I had just seen a few hours earlier. So I took a shower and we all got in the pool. My daughter finally got tired of swimming and I was so glad...

I was exhausted. I could tell that he was feeling a little frisky, but my body was just not up to it. So instead, he massaged me, and kissed me all over, until I fell asleep.

This weekend, my man and I will be spenign the weekend alone. My daughter is leaving tonight. It's a little something that I planned to let him know how much I appreciate him for always putting himself aside, and being there when I need him. He says that he does that because I am "self -less". I am a good person unconsciously. I'll take his word for it. I don't think that I try to be good. I just see people in need and try to help them if I can. I'm not trying to toot my own horn...but these are my thoughts, on my blog....

No questions for the day....Enjoy your weekend !