Adults held children while running and screaming in all directions.
Horror on their faces signaled an unmistakable accident.
Uniformed fair staff and guards gathered everyone to safe zones.
A day of carnival treats and rides; now, the scene of a devastating tragedy.
Shock and terror paralyzed me.
I’d declined my friends request that morning to chaperone her son, my daughter’s friend, to the fair. With six kids to monitor, I couldn’t manage more.
A round-a-bout chair ride suddenly stopped causing the chain to sever her sons’ leg.
Amusement parks were off our activities list from that day forward.
*****Paugua – Taino Indian name for Paula. My great grandmothers name.
*****Eduvije – Taino Indian name for Vincent. My great grandfathers name.
*****Taino Indians – The original inhabitants of Puerto Rico are the Taíno Indians, who called the island Borikén; however, as in other parts of the Americas, the native people soon diminished in number after the arrival of European settlers. It was estimated that the majority of all the Taino Indian inhabitants of the New World perished due to contact and contamination with Old World diseases, while those that survived were killed by warfare with each other and with Europeans.
Mrs. Goodman cleaned her home and windows all the time; a cleaning cloth always in her hand.
Ella and I played on the floor with our barbie dolls. If we didn’t wake William, we could have candy. The colorful candy was tempting. I couldn’t believe Ella never took one.
When Ella left to get her dollhouse, Mr. Goodman walked into the room.
He was tall, thin with a chalky wry face.
“Do you like candy?” he asked.
I just stared.
He pointed to his zipper saying, “I have candy, if you’d like.”
On Hayward Street, everyone walked on the opposite street when passing ‘The Seidel’s’.
Wille lived there with his mother. He had mental and physical abnormalities. His head would tilt just so as he dragged his club foot and balanced his deformed hand on his chest.
Mrs. Seidel would raise her fist and yell at the boys who’d tease him. Everyone wondered where he’d go if something happened to her.
In time, he was taken to a psychiatric facility; his mother taken to a senior home.
The dome street lights cast a shadow across the isolated road.
Parking near a light, he props his law book on the steering wheel and begins reading. In two days, he’ll take his finals. Could his days on the street soon be over?
His radio blares a call about shots fired.
He turns the red and blue flashing lights on as he makes his way to the location.
Speed spurs him into the adrenaline cave.
These calls never end well. Shootings are headline news.
“The coroners arrived and left,” Ronald tells me.
Tomorrow’s Headline: *Boy Commits Suicide at Gun Range*
Depression is an illness that impacts the brain. It’s a real illness hidden for too long.
Anyone suffering from depression will tell you, it’s not imaginary or “all in your head.”
Depression is more than just feeling “down.”
It is a serious illness caused by changes in brain chemistry.
Research tells us that other factors contribute to the onset of depression, including genetics, changes in hormone levels, certain medical conditions, stress, grief or difficult life circumstances.
Any of these factors alone or in combination can precipitate changes in brain chemistry that lead to depression’s many symptoms.
When the ambulance arrived they rushed him straight to the operating room.
We paced outside the coffee lounge waiting area.
It seemed like hours but only minutes had passed.
No one dared speak for fear of causing a deluge of emotions in the nervous mother.
Her woeful cries, when she first heard of her sons accident, rang in Isadora’s ears. She wasn’t sure she could bring comfort to her mother if anything happened to her brother, Vincent.
Hours passed.
It didn’t seem possible, they hadn’t heard anything.
Finally, Dr. Ramundi, approached. “I’m sorry. We did all we could.”
Manuel scurried, as he readied the room for the new priests arrival on Saturday, his limp more obvious when he was tired.
Recently, baffling thoughts had begun confusing him. There’d been five priests transferred from this parish. He wondered why.
~~~~~~~~~
Lourdes worked tirelessly to prepare the special welcome dinner for the new priest. Her job security helped calm her concerns about her son, Manuel’s, future.
~~~~~~~~~
Father Karavalez was reverent and handsome. The nuns giddily whispered about him.
He graciously accepted Manuel as his houseboy; one assigned to each priest.
Shortly after dinner, claiming exhaustion, he asked Manuel to assist him.
