GRADUATION DAY

One of the reasons we chose to visit Canada in June was so that Sydney could attend her grade 6 graduation with friends she has been in school with for 7 years. Glendale was extremely accommodating and we were all welcomed back with open arms. I actually felt a little sad walking into Glendale. Sometimes you forget the things you have given up until you stand in front of them. Schooling our kids in Panama has been a challenge. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have had the kids in Glendale for their initial few years of formal education. Seeing all the incredible supplies, artwork, books, friendly faces, out of the box teaching styles, and teachers that actually hug me and welcome me into the school, reminded me of what I gave up moving to Panama. But I digress.


The morning of Syd's grade 6 grade was very exciting. Sydney showered, put on her new dress and I actually put a little make up on her. Syd, Josh and I piled into the 1996 Plymonth van my brother in law, Gerald, so graciously let us use. As I was turning onto Glenmore Trail, the van died. It simply died in the middle of the intersection, during the busy morning hours. I hopped out and popped the hood. Don't know why I did that, I guess it is something everyone does when their car has died. Nothing looked out of place,,, like I would know if it was.


Now, people talk about re entry, and I experienced it at that exact time. In Panama , by now I have 6 burly men all shouting at me in Spanish, with hands flying through the air. Every time I have had car trouble, I hop out, pop my hood and wait for the inevitable flurry of activity and the eventual fixing of my car. I wait, I hear nothing but cars flying by, Syd weeping, "I am going to miss my graduation!!!!!!" and her dear supportive brother saying "Yup, it sure looks like your going to miss it. There is no way we`ll make it in time!"


I look around, no one is stopping, no one is helping, people are actually driving by, avoiding eye contact. I have no cell phone. I try to wave some people down to help, but I am completely ignored. I guess I look like everyone else, which is a novel experience for me. No one stops. I feel a little confused and go over and comfort Syd and tell her we will get her to school. My first thought is grab a cab, the only problem is there are so few in this area and I only have $20, that won`t get me very far.



I decide I must take action. I must get my baby to her graduation. I safely run my kids to the side of the highway. I then confidently walk in front of the first car stopped at the closest red light. I knock on the window and there in the drivers seat is sweet little old man, probably around 93 years old , who asks me how he can help. I sweetly smile and say "Have a nice day. ". The next car looks promising, I glance behind me to be sure the light is still red. The next car rolls down the window, and there is a man, around 55 who has the obvious signs of obesity, hypertension and possible cardiac disease. I ask him if he has a cardiac condition and he answers with a surprised "Why, yes." I walk away starting to feel a little discouraged and extremely useless.


Suddenly I see it!!! A landscaping truck with 2 young, strong boys smiling at me. I run, stand in front of their truck with my feet firmly planted and my hand on their hood and yell " STOP!" I tell them to get out, push my car over to the side and give me a cell phone. They both blink and answer "Yes Mame, anything else?". I must have had the Mama Bear look in my eyes, because they seemed a little afraid of me and they did exactly what I had asked them to do, and very quickly I might add.

I took the following picture, because I told Syd that soon we would laugh about this and that it would make a great blog entry. At the time, she was pretty angry, but she got to her graduation, only 5 minutes late. Thanks Leong for picking us up!

Syd is kind of hiding because she is embarrassed by her blotchy , tear stained face :(

Until I blog again.

Linda