i read lolita when i was a teenager.
but…i remember when a college friend told me it was supposed to be funny. i didn’t see it. i understand why it is supposed to be funny, it just wasn’t to me.
now it reeeaaaallly isn’t.
Okay, I admit it, I love Groundhog Day. I love the movie, Bill Murray, and the friend of mine from a long, long time ago whose birthday is today. I plan to really celebrate, although I am still unclear how.
I have always thought the idea was ridiculous, but I do remember when I longed for shorter winters. Now I revel in winter swimming.
But last Thursday was tough. I was pulled over by a police officer because my running lights were on, not full headlights. He badgered me about my insurance card, the origin of my numerous children, my origin and destination, and my job. He had the audacity to ask me if I am a foster parent. He could not have understood how painful that question was.
After all of that he gave me a ticket for an unrestrained child who was in fact in his seat belt the whole time.
I protested, but to no avail. Alas…
Today at the park Mel and her older brother were directing traffic among the preschool set, who were tooling about on motorized jeeps. Melanie engineered a fake police stop for two boys–friends age 5 and 4.
She chastised the older boy, saying, “you don’t have your seatbelt on and neither does your four year old!!”
but these three remain–faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is Love
the lady in the milk section at walmart looked almost frantic. she may have touched my arm. this was more than a year ago.
she told me,
“there is a sex offender in town! the police won’t release his name! he drives a van!”
i could tell she was upset. i listened quietly. deeply, sympathetically. but i did not tell her everything.
i did not tell her i had a guess about who the man was
he had been a family friend
his children had been like my own–i loved them so much
i also did not tell her that my adopted son is a sex offender
when i talk to him i try to sort out the tangle of his thoughts. i know i would be shocked if i could see inside his head. i have no answers for his disease.
No answers but Jesus.
Luke 4
I was standing in trampoline gym asking Melanie what she wanted to do next for her birthday. Some sort of shopping? I went down the usual list which for us is more treasure hunting, less mall cruising. A girl about Melanie’s age started whispering theatrically in our direction. I thought about the five to ten visible/audible reasons she could be pointing at us. Then I figured our real story was even worse than what she could see. Then I thanked God for Oscar Wilde.
And Jesus of course…
Praying for KP
Melanie writes a story. It is a simply constructed “fairy tale” about a family fighting abuse. I am again impressed with the power of writing to help us to process evil as well as good and how important it is that she be allowed to express her voice and gain power over what has happened to her
KP I picture I picture your father one minute in his backyard and the next walking into the dazzling light of God
Em said she found herself crying over a lost comb. She sounded bemused. I told her that we all have the same problem. Because of what Sea did the hurt is too big and we carry it around. Small issues of loss or conflict trigger outpourings of grief.
it was a set up. The judge, da and defense attny understood they were going to give the juvenile child rapist a great deal. One year of juvenile prison and decent behavior and he would not only not have to register as a sex offender, he would push to have his records sealed so no one would know.
We either write our lives for eternity or we waste our time.
My heart is broken by the brutal death of a little girl who had already been the victim of sexual assault. However I am angered by two ideas folded into HER TRAGIC AND AVOIDABLE murder. Once again the justice system had identified this man as a predator but NOT ENOUGH was done to protect children.
The second idea is more appalling. when I have looked at articles about this story it seemed unusual that the tags were “troubled girl with problems” austensibly just because of poverty related proximity to sexual predators and a previous case of sexual victimization–the description of her which strkes me as offensive.
She is a child murder victim not “damaged goods.”
But then I am crazy enough to think drug dealers should be prosecuted for crimes against other drug dealers, DSK should have been prosecuted for attacking a chambermaid even if she had nefarious friends and we should not protect criminals instead of children.
We recently ended our association with a community group because a man who visits the group meetings confessed to viewing violent child pornography and the group has done nothing to pressure the man to get psych help or limit his access to children. I can’t get past the offensiveness of unreported child pornography.
I just met a woman from the group who defended the man by arguing that he is pursuing a career in the health sciences. She told me he must be okay precisely because he still attends the group and the leaders have done nothing.
Carrying Light 