Do it NOW….

Nobody Cares

To my readers:

I haven’t really missed too many days since I’ve been writing, have I? But today…I just couldn’t muster myself to talk about Sheila Jackson, or any of the news. I mention her name because she was saying that the ‘nose’ is a delicate bone and you can break it real easy. Really absurd. And she resides in Congress! A woman who wouldn’t know a broken nose if she saw one.

Sometime early this morning, I was outside raking up dead leaves from underneath my gigantic bushes, when Alex, a 14-year-old neighbor boy that I know very well, was walking by and told me that his grandmother had died. Now, grandmothers die all the time, but this lady was not exactly old. She was in fact, a wee bit younger than me. I had known her for a long, long time, because our boys grew up together.

These last few years were very rough on her: All three of her boys gave her trouble. The youngest one she lost one night, downtown St. Louis several years ago when a black man at a stop light pull out a gun and shot him in the face. He died instantly. (He was white..funny..Obama said nothing.)

At the same time that happened, Sue (her name) was raising her oldest child’s son because her son and his girlfriend just didn’t want the responsibility and cost of Alex. When Sue got laid off as a teacher, it was extremely hard on the family because she was making the most money in the family. Her husband was a hairdresser and business has been very slow. Still they became Alex’s parents and Alex was loved and seemed to except all the messed up things happening in his life with a shrug.

Sad…She evidently died of a blood clot in her lung.

I was thinking today, how I had meant to go down to visit her…bring her some cheer after she lost her job, but…I just never did. She was upset because the school that she taught at wanted to get rid of all the white teachers…because the schools is 70 percent black. They wanted black teachers for the black kids. Reverse prejudice…I’d guess you’d call it.

Being as she was a teacher, we had completely different views on most things, but she was a very sweet lady and trying her best to raise Alex and keep her other sons out of trouble. They got into drugs in high school, and never got off.

Every day there was never enough time, and I should have made time. Too many times we say, ” Oh…I need to call so and so” and we just go about our lives and then if something’s happens, you know you will never get the chance to see that person, or hear their laugh ever again. This is the second time in my life that I have done this, and it’s going to be the last.

After Alex had told me that “grandma” had died, he said his mother was really upset. Jesus. If his real ‘mother’ had not abandoned him to the grandmother, maybe the grandmother would have had a lot less stress.

Well you know, we all have these things happen in our lives, it’s just disconcerting, and I guess I’m just in a small state of “it’s a full moon” and the wolves are howling.

So, I just didn’t feel like even giving a damn about the state of affairs in the country right now. Tomorrow I promise to get back on my usual track.

And…really…to all that read this…thanks for listening, and go call that person you’ve been meaning to say hello too…Take it from me, you’ll regret it if you don’t.

March 28, 2012 - Posted by Joyanna Adams | black violence, Life, teachers | black on white violence, death, life, teachers