Rotifer
03-19-2003, 04:35 PM
After hounding him for years, I drove a close friend of mine to a neighboring city to see his 7 year old daughter. I'm not particularly fond of her mother and family (the sister - for instance - is pregnant, out of jail on bond, covered with cheap tattoos and sat on the couch the entire time smoking cigarettes), but, the reunion was a nice thing to see. A little background; my friend is a good guy from a wealthy family (we got the address from his parents who periodically "lend" her money). While together, this young lady cheated on him incessantly and became pregnant twice. The first time, he was out of town for an extended period and, though he continues to pay child-support, the child was later proven not to be his. The second child is his. Of course, neither of us differentiated between the two girls while visiting - they received equal amounts of attention. The immediate connection between the 7 year old and my friend astounded me. Whether from overwhelming need, or biological recognition, the two were inseparable within moments of meeting. I can only compare it to finding two pearls in a garbage dump. The older girl (13) was interested and bright, she pulled out some sheet music and told me she wanted to learn the oboe in addition to playing the flue. Her mom laughed loudly, took a drag from her cigarette, and said that if she planned to play another instrument she better practice the f**** thing at school, she was sick of listening to the flute. The young gal and I went on to discuss her pending application to the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (http://www.jhu.edu/gifted/), as I said - a bright kid. It was an interesting time, nice to meet wonderful children, painful to see their desperate need for attention (due in part, no doubt, to my friends neglect). I hope his becoming involved in their lives will keep them from falling in to the bottomless pit their mother, aunt and grandmother swirl in.