I Promise to Blog as Soon as I Get My Emotions Right

Dallas was under attack last night, Thursday night. My home, My City was under attack.

I stay 15 minutes south of Downtown Dallas. The same area Erykah Badu is from & talk about in this song above. I had just tweeted that my tweet was shown on Big Brother before it ended. Went up to the front of my home, I was just looking around outside & locking up the house because somebody in my Fair Park area neighborhood was still shooting firecrackers. You know that is annoying. Then I looked at my grandmother's TV at Breaking News. *sigh* I would rather hear firecrackers than about anyone being shot.

Somebody was firing bullets after a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in Downtown Dallas. They say you don’t get a true picture of an incident until it happens to you. When it was Ferguson, LA, Baltimore, it is sad to watch. But when it is your home, it is frightening, mind blowing & unreal. I had just passed by Downtown, the other day. The college, El Centro, whose garage the shooter eventually was hold up and died in, was the community college I went to for some courses. The year I decided to find myself, one of the places I found myself was taking classes at El Centro so I could transfer to Lamar University after I left University of Texas at Arlington. The infamous Green Building Aka Bank of America Plaza, my mother retired from her job in that building. One of my aunts works in that area, also. It was unreal to see all of that unfold.

Oh & Yes, I am person who believes Black Lives Matter & I Back the Blue, also. That became very apparent last night. I have a cousin, VJ, black man, who lives in some lofts in Downtown Dallas. Until the they cornered the shooter in El Centro garage, I worried for him. I figured he was not at the protest but Bullets don’t know directions. But the shooters location was known and I knew that my cousin’s loft was on the opposite end of Downtown I relaxed for a moment. Only for us to find out that another black male cousin, M&M was down there for the protest and his car was in the area where the action was. VJ told M&M to come to his loft but the police had M&M locked up in one of the hotels. So, we knew that he was not on the street. Then reports were coming that most of the victims were cops. I know quite few cops. My hairdresser’s husband is police. My teenage crush at my foundation church is an officer. I had to just pray. Black Lives Matter & Back the Blue are always in my prayers but last night I had to put names & faces to those causes. And I am happy to say all are safe. M&M is a t home. And both guys I know in law enforcement were not Downtown but rather at their respective precincts.

It's sad but this time I could not go through the paces of hoping that the shooter was not black. I knew he was black. Maybe not the one that was misidentified (Open has in effect since January 1, 2016. And it took July 7, 2016 for us to have proof it is not an equal opportunity liberty, here. 7 whole months, Texas I’m so proud of you) but I knew he was black. Many felt like because the police were negotiating with him, he was white Many felt because the mayor & police chief would release his name right away, he wasn’t black. No, he was black. Many don’t realize that Dallas will try it’s hardest to seem to act better than other places. The crime rate is already extremely too high. They can’t look like Baton Rouge & Falcon Heights. Dallas has to look like a shining example on how to handle things the best way Dallas can. And this case was not any different and it has a black police chief at the helm. Oh and a robot killed the suspect.

Now what is crazy is that the shooter Micah Xavier Johnson, live in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite that is 10 minutes to the east of my home. I am in Mesquite at least 3 times a month. Mesquite is not urban blight. And as Johnson’s facts are released, he is not a stereotypical thug but was an army reservist. I probably passed him at a Walmart, bank or mall. His crime was still not warranted. It did not have to happen. And the other possible suspects in custody that want to stay mum might as well start talking. It’s already reported that Johnson said he was after White cops & people. He been planning this shooting for a while. Last night was his opportunity to execute it, If there is a different story to be said being quiet won’t get it heard. Also, if they didn’t even know Johnson there is no use going down some crap if they don’t have to.

I got my thoughts all out. There’s no bubble to crawl into so it’s time to do my part in healing. I lift up in prayer & stand with everyone affected by the senseless violence that happened in Downtown Dallas, in our country, USA & all over our planet, Earth. ‪#‎Dallas‬ ‪#‎PrayForDallas‬ ‪#‎PrayfortheUSA‬ ‪#‎PrayfortheWorld‬ ‪#‎DallasStrong‬ ‪#‎DallasisMyHome‬

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

Living with Your Folks!!!

You know I swear people on Twitter use Direct Messages (DM) to hide. Well I had a follower to DM me and I guess he figured out that I still lived at home with my folks, Umm Yeah! That's not a secret. How do you think I know what my mother and grandmother are watching on TV? I'm not married or have children so, who do you think I am doing at that cooking for?

When I graduated from college, I didn't have a job lined up. So, I moved back home to live with my mother, my ailing 80-plus year old grandparents and my older brother who is severely mentally challenged and has cerebral palsy. It was temporary, I thought. Soon my choice became my family's blessing in disguise. My grandfather was dying. He was going to bathroom one morning and he fell. Luckily, I was there to get him up & call my mom & aunts at work to get him the hospital. My grandfather passed away a month later. I took the phone call from the hospital, had to tell my grandmother and call mom at work so she could round up the family. That was 2004. Oh yeah I cooked meals and Helped get my brother get cleaned and ready for the day since I was unemployed. Keyword is Helped. But now I was in charge of running a household because my grandmother became grief stricken and her health started taking a strange turn after the funeral. I cooked meals, organized Dr. appointments, meds, phone calls, mail, cleaned & dress my brother (imagine an adult with a toddler's mind that just happens to know you are the little sister) and did the bulk of the shopping. And that summer I started a business. So I was like a working mother without a husband.

Let's Skip to the Spring 2010, my mother's job had her working from home. She is weeks from retiring. My grandmother falls. We thought she was okay. Boy, were we wrong. That was the start of what later would be a 4 month long hospital and nursing rehab stay because before the summer ended she had to have her gall bladder removed and therapy on her legs. That November they sent her home with a wheelchair. My mother is now retired so there are two hands on deck. My grandmother can dress herself. But she still requires some of the same duties my brother needs. Lord, I love retirement.

I don't regret staying at home. It's not as hard as it seems. Other than the household chores, we live like roommates. I still have my business, go out on occasion with my friends, and go to church when I can. Our other family members help out, too. It's just my life and I live it.

So before you judge people for Staying Home with Their Folks, learn their story. Everyone is not just staying home because they don't want to grow up. Some of us are there because our Adult responsibilities different.  Different not trifling. Now, let me start dinner.  *smiling*

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms