JBR
Post-holiday reality check
Greetings to All, 1/15/02
I meant to send y�all pictures, articles, comics, etc. with the holiday newsletter, but a mild disaster struck. I was keeping these intended inserts sorted in a slotted plastic holder on top of our 4-drawer file cabinet (which is in the office closet). A gallon bottle of bleach was on the selves above the filing cabinet. (An unlikely pair of objects to have in a closet, but there are only so many places to hide trouble from the kids.) Anyway, the nearly full bottle of bleach slipped from its perch and smashed the horizontal file holder, sending the stuff all over the closet. Because the holiday greetings have to go out Thanksgiving weekend or never and I wouldn�t have time to sort through the debris until the holidays officially began, I put off regathering the pictures and such. The only thing worse than doing something tedious is doing the same tedious task again. Hope you find the accompanying stuff worthwhile.
Then in January real disaster struck. Let me backup to say I�ve never liked January. Its 31 days seem to take forever and the weather is almost always uncomfortable and expensive. In recent years, my ship of life veered to the rocks in Januarys. Two years ago the Oak Ridge canning, last year the unasked for reassignment within Sevier County, and this year Luke rolling my Chevy S-10 down one neighbor�s hill and into another�s house (same incident, not two, though anything is possible in autism house). High price for letting down my guard. We had already exited the subdivision when I thought aloud, �Hey, Luke, know what? While we�re out we could refill the kerosene cans.� So I drove back (mistake 1) to get the two empty containers from the garage. I left the truck running outside the garage door (mistake 2) with Luke in it still (mistake 3). One of the cans had a little bit in it, so I figured I�d top off the heater before we headed out (mistake 4). This was the biggest mistake because while I was pouring the last few ounces of kero, my truck�s headlights were suddenly no more help to me. I looked up to see them disappear down my next door neighbor�s hill. (For those not familiar with East Tennessee, the only flat land in it is man-made.) I dropped the can and ran for it, though it was already too late. In the time it took me to plead, �Oh God, no� three times the truck ran backwards over Fred Franklin�s dogwood, took the corner off of Helen Moss�s retaining wall and slammed into the southwest corner of Helen�s house. Fortunately, the only injury to Luke was a �U� shaped cut on his forehead where he and the head rest went through the back windshield. The truck was not so lucky. So while I waited for the towing and supplied information for reports, Cathy and the kids went off to the Emergency Room to get Luke 8 stitches and Kate a neck brace. (It was supposed to be Luke�s but it gave Kate something to stim on during brother�s X-rays and brain scans.)
1/19/02
I had made a resolution this year to talk more to strangers, and Luke was seeing to it that I did. The Moss�s moved in earlier this year when the Mashburn�s moved away. Maybe Luke thought our Chevy S-10 would make a good welcome wagon. So I got to meet the neighbors and some new sheriff�s deputies and firemen. I say �new� because none had any memories of searching the area for Luke a few years back. (They are all getting so young, but I guess being a cop or fireman should be a younger person�s job.) At first I was thinking (while looking at the truck in the dark) �This isn�t so bad. I can work out this.� Then the deputy said, �That was a pretty nice looking truck, too.� He added (as if the �was� weren�t bad enough), �It�s totaled.� He was right, of course. The next day when I went to the towing service�s lot to remove the rest of my stuff, I noticed that the body was crumpled up from every side, even the front (thanks to the dogwood tree). The back, of course, took the worst of it. Brick walls will do that. A few hours later my insurance agent called to confirm the �total� and ask if they could cart Seven off to that great car lot in the sky (or Hamblin County, whichever is closer).
We went car/truck shopping last weekend and I ended up with a Mazda B2300. The truth is it�s a Ford in cognito. A Mazda made at a Ford plant in New Jersey. I�m not a huge Ford fan, having always believed they make ugly trucks that run and pretty cars that don�t. But it was a better deal than the runner up, a Kia Rio sedan (which probably will be the next autistic family vehicle, but not for years and years and years I hope). For now, both kids fit in B a little better than they did in Seven (though this won�t be true in a couple more years as both complete their adolescent growing magic). Luke had the stitches removed two days ago. All that�s left now is the insurance fallout. We were fully covered, so that burden should be more phone and paperwork than financial.
In other big news: Cathy�s gone over to the dark side. I�m married to Sevier County�s newest Special Ed teacher! Like her husband before her (and Jonah before him), Cathy arrived at SpEd Nineveh only after trying for years to go in a different direction. Her one-semester Biology job at Seymour High turned out to be just that despite earlier talk of an extension for the whole school year. The Kindergarten through 3rd grade resource teacher job (like most SpEd work) is permanent. Okay, not �permanent� in the Biblical sense, but at least indefinite. (Or is that the Biblical sense?) Too early to say if she�ll find it better or worse than high school Biology/Ecology, but I�m wanting to believe she will. Once Cathy gets resettled to Pigeon Forge Primary, we intend to move the kids to the PF schools (Kate to the middle school with me and Luke at the high school). We aren�t intending to move our household to Sevier County, but SC teachers can have their kids go to in-county schools no matter what county they reside in. The kids� move will smooth logistical and scheduling problems.
No more fun writing until summertime, as I have to spend these morning hours until then finishing the UT course work (graduation is May 11�three more months and a wake up!) and doing the teacher prep I can�t do at school. I also have to find time in there to figure out what the autistic family owes Uncle Sam. God Bless America.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey B. Romanczuk
[email protected]