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| dear "uncle" danny, who loved aunty rita; dear, wonderful dad; dear brother doug; & darling, precious handsome james in 2014 at the old family house, which doug & angie now live in. |
-so after everyone had left, i went to bakersfield credit union, got cash. then back home, james took me out to a beautiful ranch in lockwood valley & i returned home w/"new" car. i'd seen it once before, but this time, the friendly old kiwi guy selling it for his son seemed nervous: he wasn't sure about the smog & now the car was starting roughly. the car also had no compass, no inside-outside temp, smaller windows, all disappointing to me. how had i not noticed all this when i'd seen the car earlier in the week? had i made a mistake?
- there was too much to do: after buying car, i was gonna go to LAX, stay w/cousin tushi before she left back to TX, get up & do griffith park run, then go sub for blake at gig in pomona. started driving to LAX. at the 5/14 split, the car temp spiked: the car blew up, fluid spraying the windshield!! i pulled it over to the roadside, called insurance, called kid, called cousin, called james, waited, more calls, tow truck: long story short, after 4 hrs i was home again, shaken, but w/cash back in hand. whatta night!!!
- the kid said he'd pay for the tow. state farm's towing company charged me. confusion or fraud? i disputed it. the credit union cancelled my credit card for my financial safety. crap!! i, ms frugal, keep only one credit card so that i don't spend excessively. now i have NO credit card. credit union is in bakersfield. have to go to bakersfield to get another one. aaaaahh!! good thing i hid away all the dead-new-car cash or our week would've been even worse!
- went to work. heat out in my room. power out. computer running off battery, cumbersome, can't enter grades or really plan, can't think, room freezing, kids off-task, crazy.... because they're so cold!!! poor babies!!
- the district doesn't fix the power & heat til after school friday. miserable at school all week!! my car not running right. could be something small, could be the death of my dear little forester. have to hitch rides w/james, w/corey every day. aaaaah!!! what next?!?
- we try to cancel valentine's day counseling appt. counselor says it's too late, we'd have to pay no-show fee. sh*t!! i'd rather die than pay a no-show fee!
- we go. i go to get $100 to pay. it's not there. I LOST 100 BUCKS!! then the session goes from bad to worse to horrible. not good, not good at all!! the evening is ruined. valentine's day is ruined!! james takes off. sh*t!!! i can do nothing, so i go to bed.
-phone rings at close to 1 a.m. james got in a car accident! omg!!
-phone rings at close to 1 a.m. james got in a car accident! omg!!
- fortunately it occurred not far from here. he had decided to go stay with bro-in-law doug bc he was sad that we had had an argument. this was really good thinking from james! however, soon after he entered the freeway at frazier mountain pk rd, a car came from behind at high-speed & smashed into him!! the truck flipped on its side, then roof; james saved his own life instinctively, swiftly squeezing his body under the dash & away from the windshield. he said it all happened in slow-mo: he could see his harmonicas, his tape recorder, all his stuff floating around the cab like the wizard of oz. boom! he hit, then slid, his shoulder and ear on fire, burning, grinding against the pavement. i lost my ear!, he told me he thought. the truck flipped onto its roof, then another car broadsided it, up-righting it. james was ejected!!
- i got there & ran to the ambulance. he wanted me to take him to the hospital rather than go by ambulance. where's the truck? i asked. figures in uniforms pointed: i'd walked right past it. the whole bed cover had sheared off; the truck was puny, lifeless; the green hornet was dead.... but james was alive!! that was what was important!!
- bystanders & law enforcement had retrieved james's music equipment, which had exploded all over the road. the bed cover lay on its back like an upended turtle, wobbling, filled w/broken gear. i backed up my car & loaded the amps, the monitor, whatever was there. james hobbled painfully to the car.
- then he didn't want to go to the hospital! i sat up all night watching him. he had a bump on his head; that's what i most was worried about. however, he's had so many injuries to the head, from boxing & fighting & various mishaps, that i believed him when he said he thought it would be ok. still, i couldn't sleep. the biggest problem for him was his shoulder: he had full mobility, so i knew it wasn't broken, but still!! it obviously hurt like hell!!
- i snapped awake at 7:30. omg: i dozed off!! school!! i called lucy & she said don't worry about school. just take care of james. i cooked food & tried to keep him comfortable as possible. he was in a lot of pain from the trauma of the accident, but still didn't want to go to the hospital or urgent care.
- four days later, i write this as he is gone to a gig. what a mutant!!
- i joked with some family members that aunty rita's mutant spirit must've gone into james, strengthening his own already-considerable mutant spirit. "james," cautioned dad, "you're going to have to start being more careful. i don't think you have too many lives left!" three times clinically dead; near-death beating, months in hospital; exploded stomach in 2015 we all were told he probably wouldn't survive; now this? "yeah, buddy, you probably only have 1 or 2 left! better slow down!" said doug...
-the family showed up yesterday in a gigantic black escalade. (how does doug do it? he always has some posh twist to add to the adventure.) we all ate at the ranch house &, since the towing company was closed, we couldn't visit the green hornet, so we stopped at the crash site & went foraging for any of james's items that might've been left behind. the center divider of i-5 bore a giant splotch; i realized that was from one of the other vehicles in the crash, so i backtracked along the highway & there they were!: one PA stand & james's beloved mike stand, hand-crafted by his buddy stanley! we also found some of his mind-reading cards, his magic wand, an unopened can of pinto beans (he always carries canned food, like a survivalist or more accurately, the soldier he was for many years), a plastic jack-o-lantern, one of his dress shoes... and of course, of all the items to be found, the one james found was an unopened bottle of vodka. i'd seen it the night of the crash & thought, good lord! thank you that the bottle is unopened! james had been sober! (who knows about the other driver?) but i'd left the bottle there... so of COURSE james then found it!
- "you can't ever drink that one, buddy," said doug. "you gotta keep that one for posterity!" the family mused that james should make a shadow box art piece from the items that survived the crash; dad said james should put military epaulets on the shoulder of the zoot suit jacket, which had been melted away during the accident. doug took pix of james smiling at the crash site, holding up the items that had made it through... most importantly, james!
- the additional good news for me is that after retrieving my flattened keyboard stand & broken amp, i plugged in my keyboard & IT STILL WORKS!!!! it had been in the back seat of the truck, which probably protected it... as for the rest of the equipment, i'm hopeful that insurance will help us get some of it back... and maybe a vehicle to replace the green hornet. it seems reasonable to hope that since the other driver was at fault, something positive could happen there to help my husband... we will see.
- four days later, i write this as he is gone to a gig. what a mutant!!
- i joked with some family members that aunty rita's mutant spirit must've gone into james, strengthening his own already-considerable mutant spirit. "james," cautioned dad, "you're going to have to start being more careful. i don't think you have too many lives left!" three times clinically dead; near-death beating, months in hospital; exploded stomach in 2015 we all were told he probably wouldn't survive; now this? "yeah, buddy, you probably only have 1 or 2 left! better slow down!" said doug...
-the family showed up yesterday in a gigantic black escalade. (how does doug do it? he always has some posh twist to add to the adventure.) we all ate at the ranch house &, since the towing company was closed, we couldn't visit the green hornet, so we stopped at the crash site & went foraging for any of james's items that might've been left behind. the center divider of i-5 bore a giant splotch; i realized that was from one of the other vehicles in the crash, so i backtracked along the highway & there they were!: one PA stand & james's beloved mike stand, hand-crafted by his buddy stanley! we also found some of his mind-reading cards, his magic wand, an unopened can of pinto beans (he always carries canned food, like a survivalist or more accurately, the soldier he was for many years), a plastic jack-o-lantern, one of his dress shoes... and of course, of all the items to be found, the one james found was an unopened bottle of vodka. i'd seen it the night of the crash & thought, good lord! thank you that the bottle is unopened! james had been sober! (who knows about the other driver?) but i'd left the bottle there... so of COURSE james then found it!
- "you can't ever drink that one, buddy," said doug. "you gotta keep that one for posterity!" the family mused that james should make a shadow box art piece from the items that survived the crash; dad said james should put military epaulets on the shoulder of the zoot suit jacket, which had been melted away during the accident. doug took pix of james smiling at the crash site, holding up the items that had made it through... most importantly, james!
- the additional good news for me is that after retrieving my flattened keyboard stand & broken amp, i plugged in my keyboard & IT STILL WORKS!!!! it had been in the back seat of the truck, which probably protected it... as for the rest of the equipment, i'm hopeful that insurance will help us get some of it back... and maybe a vehicle to replace the green hornet. it seems reasonable to hope that since the other driver was at fault, something positive could happen there to help my husband... we will see.
- my god!! what a week!! so many kind people, from the ones who gave me back my $ after the "new" car blew up, to corey who kept giving me rides, to christy, to my dear little students, who gave me a beautiful card of concern ("we are really sorry 4 everything that has been happening to you") to mom, dad, angie, & doug, our loving support always; to, again, doug, who just ferried james to his gig last-second when his other ride didn't show up on time. and all the kids who hugged me when i came back to school friday! they tell me they love me & i tell them i love them! (that's a new one at school!) and the parents & staff who showed concern! and the griffith park run people, who moved my registration to a run in june so that i wouldn't be out 40 bucks & the experience of a neat running event! and all the people who said they'd help james get to his gig! we are so very bless-ed.
- the 100 bucks is still missing, but through this all, must say that life is good!
- the 100 bucks is still missing, but through this all, must say that life is good!
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