Tragedy in Oconomowoc

My sister in law’s house burned down.

Perhaps you heard about a church exploding in Oconomowoc Wisconsin. The house next door to the church burned so badly they had to eventually tear it down. We just moved my sister in law and three of her four children in there about 2 1/2 weeks ago. They have lost everything! Thankfully no one was home at the time and they are all safe.

Contrary to what the papers and news stations have reported this is the truth: The people that lived there were my sister in law and three of her four children. She is divorced and separated. The man in the newspapers and tv reports has never lived there. He has a separate residence and he has lost nothing.

If there is anyone that would like to donate to the family, all donations are being handled through the family’s church and can be referred here or visit this blog for a paypal link.  http://oconomowocexplosion.wordpress.com/

Isiah 61 Fund
First Congressional United Church of Christ
P.O. Box 273
Oconomowoc, WI 53066
(262)567-4461
Contact: Jo

Thank you.

Tragic Memories

As we were making our way back from the holiday spent in Illinois with Sugarmomma’s family we traveled through a snowstorm. By about the time we got to the Wisconsin border it had finally let up and the rest of the car was sleeping or nodding off. Sugarmomma’s niece Cherry we call her, rode with us. Cherry is 14. Cherry wants to learn how to drive. She has driven us a couple times before and did very well considering it was her first and second time ever driving. She wanted to drive again but we didn’t think it was a good idea with the weather. It made me think of when I was young and wanted so badly to be able to drive.

 I remember being pretty young probably between 8 and 10 with vivid memories of my mom and her drinking problem. I remember studying intently how to drive. As I rode and my parents drove I would practice in my head which way to turn on the right blinker and left blinker, when to turn it on, when to take your foot off the gas, when to apply the brakes. I knew about how much to turn the wheel when making turns, and when to pull out from a stop sign. I was convinced that if my mom was too drunk to drive us home that I could do it. We spent a lot of time at her friends’ home which was probably only 3-4 miles from where we lived. After several hours of visiting and several drinks and me being the only sober one in the house besides the cats (which spent most of their time trying to hide and avoid me since they were the only things there I could play with), I was informed we’d be spending the night, again. I told my mom that if she wanted to go home that I could drive. Amongst all the laughter of the night, I got the biggest laugh with that line. Needless to say we spent the night and I did not drive us home. I mentioned it many times, but I never drove us home. I am convinced I would have drove us home perfectly. I’m an excellent driver.