Well. There is a new chapter in the Donna family epoch. Not unexpected, mind you. Just new.

They're being kicked out of the motel they were living in. She says it's not because of money, but that there seems to be some personal issues with the management. Whatever it is, there's nothing I can do about it, except offer her some resources.

I gave her the number to the local men's and women's shelters. We don't have a family shelter here, so if they have to go that route, she and Brian will have to be seperated. Oh, darn. He was supposedly out talking to his boss last night, to see if he could get an advance on his pay so they can get into another motel, but that apparently didn't pan out. This man infuriates me. He KNEW they were coming. I might question that, except that he told ME they were coming. So why didn't he have his shit together when they got here? He had no money saved, no vehicle, no place to live. As Donna said, though, it's too late to get mad at him for that now. Now I have to be satisfied with being mad that he still hasn't grown a pair of balls and gotten his shit together. As of 11:00 a.m., his whole family will be homeless. His wife, his twin 5 year old boys, and his 13 year old stepdaughter. Well, that's just grand. I can't take them in. I just don't have the room, and I can't take care of a whole other family. And I can't burden Corey with it either. I'm not talking financially. I could make some damn good use out of that damn-near-$600-a-month deal on the food stamps. But he has to work. He has to sleep in order to be able to function at work. I don't really see that happening with her two little psychos, on top of the fact that she's kind of a loud person anyways.

I talked to Akristia about what the women's shelter is like. I told her about when my mom and my sister and I stayed there. I told her about my fear - when my mom told me we were moving into a homeless shelter - that it was going to be a big old airplane hangar, with cots lining the walls, but it wasn't like that at all. It's a real house - a HUGE house, but a real house nonetheless. There are bedrooms, and a living room, and a kitchen. I told Donna that she and Akristia wouldn't be allowed to just sit around all the time. Everybody is expected to pitch in, to cook, to help keep things clean, and that Donna would be expected to find a job. Akristia wouldn't have a choice but to babysit the twins, but since she'll never be there alone, her epilepsy won't really be a big issue. I told them that they wouldn't be allowed to tell Brian where it is. And Donna will have to take the kids, since the men's shelter isn't allowed to have kids yet. Like that would be any different from any other time.

It brings back a lot of memories. It was so hard being there. Akristia said that she hates her life. I told her to make it better for herself. I told her to stay in school, to make a decent life for herself, because her parents sure as hell aren't going to. She asked me what to do to make it better now. I told her that for now, she just has to roll with the punches. Take things as they come, and keep her head above water, and do what she can now to make things better for her future. I told her that if I could do it, she could, too. I'm not going to tell her everything is going to be fine, that her mom will take care of things, because I don't know if she CAN. She seems to be living in a dream world. If it was my family, I would have moved into the shelter as soon as I found out Brian didn't have a home for us. I would have gotten a job, or at least TRIED to. I would have hit every resource offered to me TWICE. Anything I could, just to make sure that my family was taken care of. It seems like she's just waiting to have everything handed to her. I'm not going to do that. Things are tight, even for us. I don't have it to give. I can give her phone numbers, but she has to make the calls. I'm going to call my friend Debra, who runs the men's shelter, and see what she can suggest, or even offer, but only because I know her personally. I feel like crying, and it's not even my situation. I feel beat up, and it's not even my stress to bear.

the last trail...the next path