Odd weekend

Those of you who know me realize that is not a huge leap for my world.  But this one was particularly bizarre.  One of my new neighbors is my age and having trouble adjusting to the fact she's not a teenager much less a young woman any more.  She is the one that keeps spontaneously doing things like cruises, Eco-camping and taking off without telling anyone where she's going and when she'll be back.  Both of her boys have my phone number in case of emergency and her oldest son called me Wednesday.  He was at the ER and had been trying to contact his mom to wire some money.  She wasn't picking up her phone and he was getting worried.  I said I knew she'd taken off and had the other gal in our compound watching after her cat and plants.  Here's where it got odd.  I was pretty sure that she'd checked herself into rehab because I knew she was getting out of control and she was worried about it.  But I didn't know for a fact.  The gal watching her cat kept playing coy with "She's taking a vacation from her vacation." 

Her son was freaking out completely by Friday and getting her entire family up in Wisconsin freaked out.  I told the neighbor to call the kid and let him know she knew where his mom was.  She kept saying, "Just tell him she's fine."

I was honest and said, "I don't know that she's fine."  Another guy popped in with, "Just tell her family that she's fine."  I looked at them both like they were the village idiots and said, "I am not telling them that because I don't KNOW that.  If anything has happened to her I'd be the one the cops would be grilling."  Yeah, a few too many Law and Orders...but hey it's true.  I said, "If you know where she is tell her family because they are calling the police and filing a report."  They both laughed at me and I walked away shaking my head.

Well, I heard from her sister next who was now freaking out too.  I said, "I don't know where she is but the gal watching her place probably does.  I figure she either went down to the Keys and is out of cell range or finally checked herself into rehab."  The sister wasn't as sure so she asked for the local police info which I gave her.  By 8:30 in the morning on Saturday I was talking to the local sheriff at MY door.  Naturally the gal watching my neighbor's place was passed out and unresponsive.  I told John, the sheriff...hey wait that makes him Sheriff John...nevermind...anyways I said that I was pretty sure she was either in the Keys or rehab but had no way to confirm it and wasn't privy to the facts.  He said he'd come back later. 

There is a reason I stuck to my guns.  It's odd down here and things happen.  Heck check the newspapers locally some time.  Alligators biting on cop cars and old ladies rolling their cars into canals.  I have been on the other side of the missing person equation.  When I was 17 my sister ran away from home without telling anyone but a few close friends who lied to my parents.  The day she decided to call (two weeks later) after dealing with the police, concerned family and friends my dad had just gone to the morgue to thankfully NOT identify my sister.  I never forgot how it felt or how the entire family was changed.  To this day my older brother has little to no respect for my sister and her games.  She came back reluctantly, sullenly and somewhat damaged.

The neighbor came back in the afternoon and the sheriff caught up with her and talked with her.  Her son was grateful that I helped in the small way and said to his mom that she had to tell me when she was disappearing because the other gal played games.  That unleashed those childhood memories of how I'd felt when I discovered later how many people had helped with the lies to protect my sister while she 'escaped'.  My feelings of anger were close to the surface, my respect for the two people who kept encouraging me to lie to the cops while they knew where she was fell further.  It wasn't some casual acquaintance looking for the woman but her kids and sister - why would anyone make a game of it? 

I didn't lash out at anyone.  I swum in the pool.  Sipped wine with my friend both Saturday and Sunday - rain be damned and read to her my latest story.  It was hard letting go of the anger but necessary. 

I made a kick ass bread pudding with brandy sauce, pictures and story to follow.  Marinated skirt steak in a Merlot mixture of goodness then grilled and served with honey caramelized mushrooms, steamed asparagus, roasted Parmesan garlic potatoes and tossed salad.  I am still upset but I can't see that there was anything else that I could have done.