First of all, people in the dream talk about wanting Mirabel to be better taken care of, I wanted to clarify that Mirabel is standing in for myself and the twins when we were little - I don't think anyone could stand up and say anything bad about Mirabel or David and Segen, like this. David is doing a great job. My dad did a great job too.
So the beginning of this dream, I was in a library - I think it was the Valley City library but it was bigger. People from high school who I recently connected with on Facebook were there, like Troy Durham, others, but no one was talking to each other because it was a library. I thought I would touch base with them later.
Some other stuff happened and then the whole thing changed to a big auditorium. It was a church service, but with people more like the ones we went to church with in the past, not UUFRC people. But Julia was the minister.
I was up in the balcony of the auditorium (or a stadium? Like Billy Graham) and there was a time announced for Joys and Sorrows/like comments.
This older couple were sitting near me and the woman stood up and said that she just wished those Stoutamire kids were better taken care of. That they looked all messy. She didn't offer anything to help the situation (even if it was true).
I could not believe she would say something like that! So I stood up and said something like "How dare you! She's just a little girl! I think she looks fine. Shut up!"
And I sat down and thought - "wow, now all these people will hate me, they probably agree with her, and it's me who's the freak show". At least I thought it was over.
But Julia stopped the whole show and said something like - we really need to talk about this, and asked me to continue talking more. (Here I think Julia has probably morphed into Cornelia, my therapist).
So I talk more and I say, "Even if she did need that kind of help, and I don't think they do, then offer something that will help! Go over and see her more often, or do something, but else just shut up! How can you say something like that! Aargh!"
People did turn around and give me supporting looks so I didn't feel as alone but part of me was still so angry at that woman. Who let her into this place? How could she be so superficial and judgmental? Did she not know what had happened? WTF!!!!
(my suspicions that people were thinking stuff like this about us probably kept me from wanting any kind of organized religion where you have to "dress up" and come to church).
Sometime after this I woke up and I was still mad at that f'ing woman.
Who was she to say anything like that? I realized that obviously she wasn't anyone at UUFRC - I think she represents people at our church/town that I was afraid were thinking this about us when we were growing up.
Who was she to say anything like that? I realized that obviously she wasn't anyone at UUFRC - I think she represents people at our church/town that I was afraid were thinking this about us when we were growing up.
We probably did look like the "wild women from Borneo" more than my mom would have wanted, but it felt like we were doing our best. I had the feeling that people were judging us (or at least pitying us) - watching us walk back and forth to and from the Care Center every day in the summer, etc. Very few offered us rides, only the people who knew us, probably to avoid us being freaked out by accepting rides from "strangers".
1 comment:
I don't ever remember being offered a ride. Even now, I feel like our walks through town were completely unnoticed, like we were invisible. I still feel invisible in Valley, even though nowadays I'm accompanied by Dave everywhere, who is a large quiet presence. This spring I was in Valley Drug and that woman that we all associate with Valley Drug when we close our eyes was at the cash register. I was talking to Dave about the front page of the TR, which had our optometrist's widow on the front in an article about how old people still don't know much about computers. I was ignoring the Valley Drug woman and talking to Dave about the optometrist's widow and how sad I would be to be featured that way, and how I know her best because of all my Methodist activity over the last decade with Chris's family [insert fast chatter that you know and love from Kati]. For the first time since I was 8 and looking like I was going to steal some candy or something, the Valley Drug cashier woman addressed me and asked me directly whether I live in town now, with a little bit of happy excitement in her voice, like if one of those crazy-smart Pederson girls who somehow managed to grow themselves into crazy-smart adults came back it would be a blessing. It was twinged with sadness too because this lady watched us march past Valley Drug for years, and she went to Our Savior's, but she didn't help us when we needed her, so why would the crazy-smart Pederson girls come back and help her silly little town.
Slightly flustered, I replied that I didn't, that I lived in Minneapolis, but I was just around a lot.
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