Trash Bags

I usually don't post "personal" stuff here. I figure my personal life is my own to deal with.

After all, I started writing this mainly as a means to vent my frustrations at work, of which there were many at the time.

Anyway, here's something personal that's getting to me right now. I hope you aren't too offended or dismayed.

Eons ago, in a galaxy far away... the wife and I became foster parents for the first time. Our ultimate goal was to adopt a couple of kids to call our own. That did and didn't work out so well, but that's another story entirely.

Over the years we had a lot of different kids in our home. Over the on and off space of about ten years we had forty or fifty different kids staying with us. The shortest stay was overnight. The longest was a couple of years.

At one point we had eleven kids in our house at the same time. That was horrible.

Anyway, each time they brought us another kid they brought us most of their stuff jammed into black plastic trash bags. Not luggage or even cardboard boxes. Just a pile of black plastic trash bags.

I always thought that was kind of a sad commentary on how kids were being treated.

When they left us we tried to at least send them on with some halfway decent cardboard boxes to keep their stuff in. It was the least we could do.

Our house has been completely kid free for the last couple of years now and alot of the old scars were fading and I was really enjoying the peace and quiet. I was becoming a hermit and liking it.

This weekend our adopted daughter shows up with her two little girls. They'd lost their place and needed somewhere to stay until she got back on her feet again.

We couldn't say no, of course. And we can't afford to rent her an apartment. So what choice did we have, really?

Now once again, after numerous trips back and forth to pick up her stuff and bring it all here.....

There's a large pile of black plastic trash bags in my garage full of toys and kids clothes. And strange kids sleeping in our guest room again.

And one day soon something either good or bad will happen and they will go away.

I'm really starting to hate black plastic trash bags.

Okay, I'm done. Just had to get that off of my chest.

Tuesday is going to be Old Maid's Day, Audacity To Hope Day, Doo-Dah Day (The national salute to silliness) and National Cheese Day.

Doo-Dah... Doo-Dah...