After church yesterday, I stopped inside a grocery store. I ran into one of the kids who attends church. The girl doesn’t annoy me as much as some of the other kids at church do. In fact, there are many times when she acts like she has some sense. “My mama is back in jail again,” she told me after giving me a hug.
I know a little of her backstory, featuring parents who stay in and out of trouble with the law. This time, it sounded like her mother had violated probation. Mama will probably have to serve her full time now, and then some. I was a little shocked. What do you say about something like that? “I’m sorry to hear that,” I told the girl. As I left the store, my mind was spinning. Doesn’t that woman realize that she’s got a kid out here?
While I was growing up, I knew quite a few kids whose parents were known to the police. They were being taken care of by grandparents, aunts and uncles, or whoever else was willing to keep them while their parents sat behind bars. The parents never seemed to learn, deeming it more important to do whatever it was that kept them on lock down than knuckle down and be there for their kids.
The girl told me about her mama’s latest brush with the law in a matter-of-fact way. She seemed to take it as being a normal part of life. That’s the sad part.
That is so sad. To think that doing whatever you were doing was worth more to them then thier kids.
Comment by froggylove — July 28, 2008 @ 10:37 pm |