|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| I love the words, the images etched on these pages... and I'm moving the future ones to a new cyberspace home... http://moosechickang.blogspot.com/ | | |
| The story I did on Ukranian orphans. The video link the dad sent me. Doing this to the girl who already wants to adopt, but lacks the age, money, family situation, and about everything else imagineable. Cruel. | | |
| I recently wrote an article on fundraisers surrounded a local resident's death and helping his young family. It was unexpected (complications from sleep apnea) and he left behind his wife, a stay at home mom, and two little girls. My article was held for this week, and I was told to add to it and speak to a family member, as well as the people organizing the fundraisers. I managed to get in contact with his mom, and we had a great conversation. His family really does need the fundraisers. Anything bad that could happen is happening to them. After speaking with her, I thought it might be kind of cool to speak with his boss, friends, and other family members. I was interested by this person and wanted people to know who he was. I asked my editor today if we could do the fundraiser story, but also have a sidebar about who this man was. No, better to just put them together. She was apologetic. He wasn't "important enough" to give the space to. Which I understand. We have to draw the line somewhere. It makes me sad. His five-year-old followed him around outside, helping him with cars, yardwork... whatever she could. He drove from Bethesda to Mount Airy every night and read his daughters a bedtime story. He wrote poetry and rapped with his fifth grader. They have demo tapes. He worked so his wife could stay home with the girls, one with severe food allergies. His mom has his Donald Duck ornaments she hung on her tree this year. Lines of people she didn't know came to the funeral. The family received cards with money and no signature. There's so much more. And it will never be in my paper and you will never know anything more about him and he will fade into a memory and a ripple of influence he planted. Important enough is a shallow construct. I know it's ridiculous, but I wanted more. I wanted to write more and have him be somebody other than the name on the paper you see next to the Chicken Dinner or Raffle. I wanted him to be somebody in print. | | |
| Last Wednesday when I parked on the street I had momentary hesitation (it is the biggest drinking night of the year) but then I thought, "Naw, it couldn't be hit three times in one year." Downtown is a popular bar crawl district. And my baby has suffered. Thursday as my family (they came for Thanksgiving and we spent it with an amazing hodge podge of people) drove by it my sister asked me what all the white was from. Not seeing the car I cheerfully insisted it was because it was washed the day before and it was just that shiny. Looking back on things- I'm an idiot. Thursday night when I went to move my car from it's parked position I wondered what the weird scraping noise was. After parking in the garage, and rounding to the passenger side I noticed that I was hit. Again. For the third time this year. And it wasn't shiny, it just doesn't have paint. And the gas door won't open. And there are weird rattling noises when I go above 30 mph.
Good news: the guy was so drunk that witnesses caught him and he was arrested. My mom called insurance for me because I was at work and she likes being bulldoggish when defending her daughters, and told his representative he was driving the black Mercedes, which the cops had told us. "Which one?" the representative asked. "He has several." So there you have it. I was hit by a drunken drug dealer. And I'm thankful he hit the passenger side because he rehit a dent made this summer when someone else hit my unattended parked car, so now it will be fixed for free! The auto guy who looked at it on Friday said it was probably a total loss (costs more to fix than the car is worth), but I'm just getting it fixed (sorry to anyone who has cursed my little backseat on long rides). I can't afford a new car and the impending payment plan it would bring. On Wednesday afternoon I spent $253 on my car, not knowing it would be targeted by a rich man's loss of coordination due to a alcohol induced state just hours later. It can't be a total loss! In other news, I'm excited for the change of pace with the rental I will get during repairs. Maybe a hatchback? A hatchback is my dream. Umm, I dream small in the world of automobiles and such. A cute hatchback. We'll see. And thank you to God that he was caught. Seriously. | | |
|
