A Day with the Evans Family

    My son Manny,  who recently took his oath for the United States Air Force reserve,  and I spent the day hanging out together yesterday.  He has been living with his Dad for a few years since we moved from a very large duplex I shared with a co-worker in Millbrae.  In between spending a year and a half in Oahu,  Hawaii attending the Waimanalo Job Corps and receiving his GED and helping his Uncle Ben with his boat building business in Kapolei,  Manny has grown into a fine young man.
     Searching at the Sprint Store for smart phones is a daunting task let alone the prices on these pieces of electronics makes you want to walk back out.  My son's phone is in need of repair and we were advised to call the insurance people which we'll do at another time.  By this time,  hunger got the best of us and we drove through Inn-n-Out burger.  At this time,  I received a phone call from my good friend and co-worker   Carmen,  who had just landed at San Francisco International Airport with her young 14 year old son Maurice.  They're here to visit her mother,  Diane,  who I affectionately refer to her as " mama ".  We made arrangements to meet at Daly City Bart so that we could all visit with mama at her new Studio apartment in San Francisco.  Driving into "The City" is always adventurous and not for the faint of heart.  I love driving there and have been asked to do so numerous times to do so.

     Visiting Mama's apartment,  she lives in the heart of the Tenderloin District,  rich, vibrant, loud, colorful and all of which is characteristic of a lively neighborhood.  Mama loves it there and it shows,  she is flourishing!  Her Senior Studio apartment is very spacious, bright and in her words, "I can watch the parade from my window"!  Mama has all that she wants and needs within minutes from her doorstep,  corner grocery store, fruit stands,  numerous ethnic restaurants, BART, Muni, Taxi's and of course walking.  Manny and Maurice walk to Glide Memorial Church then onto Maurice's Uncle Kwame's Apartment a few blocks down. We all gather at Mama's apartment and walk to a local Middle Eastern Restaurant that they've frequented before and highly recommend.  Food was plentiful and spicy,  conversation was endless and the complimentary Chai Tea flowed freely to the point of us drinking it all.  Nightfall started to cloak the area and it was time to leave and goodbye's to Mama and Kwame and her new apartment.  Manny and I drove Carmen and Maurice to the San Francisco International Airport for Maurice's flight to San Diego to visit more family for the Holidays.  After some conversation of our own,  it was time for me to say good-night to my son.  On my drive home,  I realize how Adult our conversations have become and how I will miss the little boy that he once was and embrace the young man he has become.  

I can’t you idiot! I’m not an able bodied person!!!”

As quoted by Sasha from "living with RA". I totally know that she means by that statement. People in general, we like to believe, are good citizens in human society. Working at the airport, I know all too well about the living and able bodied people versus the disabled and families travelling with very young children. Impatience does not belong in the flying world of hurried travellers and trying to be the 1st one on board so that you can get your carry on luggage in the overhead bins. We neglect to see this and in our own selfish virtue, we become concerned about number one, ourselves. Travelling in 1st class, they are in their own world. Once they are on that red or blue carpet, who they leave behind in the boarding area is of no concern to them. Usually the next section to board is the frequent flyer's some of whom it can take up to 10 minutes to board alone. Some of them will be agitated since they did not buy or get upgraded to 1st class. Others will be completely beside themselves if families with children or the disabled are boarded before them sometimes causing a scene with their unkind comments or dagger throwing glares. "How dare they be boarded before me!" To these people, I think, 9/11 did not happen, the War in Iraq is a joke, Hitler loved African Americans, everyone is alive and well after the Katrina Hurricane and our economy is doing excellent. I know that these are not true at all. But it is easy to forget, put away and go on in the minds of most Americans. If we keep remembering these things, we might be a little more kinder and not harsh with a driving edge. We might learn to find our purpose and live together just a little longer on this place we call Earth.

Broken promises

My friend, Yvonne and her church in San Mateo had an event that involved my surrogate family, The Evans. It was a night of music provided for by the Tongan Children's brass band, a slide show of the Church trip to New Orleans in October 2007 and a potluck dinner with Mama's gumbo being the feature attraction. It was quite a showing of church parishioner's as the event was an enormous success. The slide show was showcasing the church trip to New Orleans and their assisting in the rebuilding of two Katrina Families. Devastation is still present today with the help of FEMA and other government assistance slowing to a trickle. The undeniable assistance of relief only benefiting a fortunate few. Our government and state officials have abandoned this spirited icon of history and it's people only to turn their attention towards remembering their fiscal budgets and broken promises. No where in history has there ever been a mass exodus of peoples treated with the harshness and cruelty as the Katrina Survivors. They are a people without a country. Nations saw the devastation and we were gripped to our T.V. for weeks as word of loved ones ebbed out onto our screens. Monies poured in from every country on earth in the hope of finding a recipient. Well wishers sent cards, letters and offers of adopting whole families to come and stay with them. Strangers helping strangers. The hearts of the world reached out to New Orleans and softly held it's people close to it's bosom. Months later as the welcome mat wore out with family and friends, Mama would say, these ignorant people said to the Katrina families, "Get over it!" How can you tell a proud family that lived through a devastation that most of us can only imagine, at best, to "Get over it?" I'm sure it will be tucked away in the corner of our minds like every other major world catastrophe, but it will not be forgotten. Like the horrific Indonesia Tsunami in 2004, New Orleans Katrina and the cries of it's people, will not be forgotten.

Stiff joints

this morning. It seems that my "rhummy" is back since the lowering of my prednisone medication and I am feeling every little ache. I'm on half a tablet until December 1st and still taking the folic acid and vitamin daily. The methotrexate is still once a week at four tablets. It hasn't been easy this week. My once swollen ankles are back especially the right ankle. It is much harder to walk today than the past days. There is a varied amount of stiffness in my finger joints as well as parts of my back but I'm trudging along in my day just a little slower than usual.
I've been to the play "Stardust and empty wagons" three times since it has been back in San Francisco. It is a wonderful production of talented cast members portraying actual Katrina survivors from Hurricane Katrina. Live music by the Hot 8 band is not to be missed, they are an awesome band playing beautiful rhythm and flavors of New Orleans. The play is a heart rendering story about the lives of Katrina survivors and how they survived the hurricane and horrendous flooding, what they went through getting their families out of New Orleans and to this day dealing with the mismanagement of FEMA and where they are now. Listening to their stories unfold and told in a way that lets you embrace them as long lost family and to encourage their fight against a government that does not have a clue and can't seem to get it together in this day and age! The last day for the play is Sunday November 25th at the Brava Theatre in San Francisco. Take your family and friends to see it. You won't be disappointed.

Hurricane Katrina didn't happen

My best friend Carmen and her family are Katrina Survivors from New Orleans. They were stuck on the roof of their neighbors house for three sun blazing days and four quiet star filled nights surviving on food and water that "mama Diane" stocked up on throughout the months if not years! Maurice's only wish was that he could take his kitten with him when they were rescued by the local folk there who piloted a boat looking for people that needed help. The boats man dropped them off at a stretch of road that used to be an intersection where the Orleans and Jefferson Parish meet. The Evan's were picked up by a man in a pickup truck who tirelessly shuttled people to where the I-10 meets the freeway, he is a hero. The Evan's were listening to the portable radio about the chaos at the stadium that was in pandemonium with an all out epidemic of lawlessness. The national guards had moved into town to quell the local people's anxiety, stop the looting and their machine guns set to kill. The Evan's stayed away from the stadium and needed to be on those buses heading out to Houston at any cost. Mother, daughter and grandson held onto each other for dear life.
Living in California was nothing new to Carmen who has lived here before and if it wasn't so darn expensive to live here, she would make her home here permanently. Mama had come to visit a few times and Maurice was born here.
So how is it that a car dealership, Putnam Toyota of Burlingame is giving Carmen a hard time with getting her used car repaired? Apparently, the car dealership (Putnam) is not honoring the warranties that she paid for, new car buyer and extended for the repair to take effect. They want her to produce paperwork that states she had service on the car. Ring, Ring?? Don't you have that stored in your high tech computers? In the meantime, her car is being stored at Ron Price Volkswagen of South San Francisco's repair center for the past 5 months and she is making her monthly payments on a car that was priced too high in the first place at 21 percent interest and no they weren't interested that she IS a Katrina survivor! Fellow bloggers, I am pleading my case on behalf of my best friend, send an email to eric@putnamauto.com to have them immediately repair and get her car back to her. The Evan's have been relying on Cal-train, buses and the help of friends to get to and from work, school and doctor's appointments.
Haven't they been through enough?????????