With a bit of apprehension, plans were made to take six women to the Southern Christmas Show. Southern Shows was generous with their donation of 16 tickets at my request and six wanted to go. Realizing that I could fit six in my car, I didn't ask around much for anyone to go with me. Everyone has been so generous with their time so it didn't bother me to go alone. I felt differently about that in the middle of the week. I wasn't too sure about doing it myself with six women I didn't know but by Friday I was really looking forward to the day. This is a delightful group of ladies. They are compatible and grateful for everything we do.
The group decided that we were going to stick together - I was going to be the Mother Hen and they were going to follow along! We had a pleasant ride to the Merchandise Mart but it took about 30 minutes to get parked. We walked to the main entrance and agreed - just in case we got split up - to meet outside in 2 1/2 hours at this same entrance. Of course the decorations were beautiful where we entered with all the Christmas trees and lights but it wasn't five minutes before I realized that 3 of my 5 ladies were gone and on their own! That was fine with me because the more independence they showed, the better I thought it was. Sardia and Stephanie stuck with me and we ventured out to see all we could in the time allotted. Part of the apprehension I had in the beginning had to do with a discussion Nancy, Jill and I had about whether taking the women to the Christmas Show where there was going to be so much to buy was going to be fun for them or depressing. Thankfully it turned out to be a positive experience at the time. Lots of oohs and aahs about tree ornaments and dolls, pocketbooks and clothes and not much about the fact that they couldn't buy any of it. The model train layout was a big hit for the three of us as we watched the trains move around the neighborhoods and noticed all the little model people playing out their roles. Neither woman had ever seen model trains so it was fascinating for them.
We moved on through all the aisles and rows of decorations and hand-made items. Of course, neither of them attempted to buy anything. They didn't have the money and unless they could wear it, they would have to carry it around. We enjoyed lunch together on the benches in the walkway between the buildings and watching all the people walk by. Sadia started to tell me about her ex-husband whom she met in London where she lived and how as his fiance she came to the States where they married. She didn't tell me, but Paulette told me later that she said that her husband was an ambassador but we don't know of what country. She has been here for about 20 years, I think, and has been divorced about 15 years. (I might have to correct that later!) Her ex-husband has stalked her for years. At one time she drove an 18 wheeler from Canada all the way to Florida but because of a reported accident that she says didn't happen, she can't get another driving job. Her partner on that truck was on drugs (doesn't that make you feel safe?) and she told him that she would report him if he didn't stop driving. Vindictively, he told their boss she had had an accident on the trip and they fired her even though there was no police report or damage to the truck. This report keeps showing up when she interviews and she keeps getting turned down on jobs. Sounds believable and outrageous at the same time, doesn't it? And we will probably never know how real or fabricated this story is.
Both ladies wanted to go into the other buildings where there was reported clothes and jewelry. We walked and oohed and aahed at everything we saw until it was time to meet the others to return to the church. Everyone was waiting where they were supposed to be full of stories of what they had seen and liked.
Would the hesitation we had taking them to the show play out? Would it initiate sadness at what they didn't have and their station in life right now or would it give them some happiness having a day that was different than all their other days of wandering, "hoofing it" and boredom? What I heard was "That was a different day." "That was fun. Everything was so pretty." But I did hear a quiet "Couldn't buy anything" from the back seat on our ride back.
I'm taking three more on Friday. Hopefully it won't be as crowded, we won't spend 30 minutes in line in the car to find a parking space and the ladies will enjoy the show as much as the first group seemed to!
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