Yellow Bus Strike...

As we are well into our second week of the NYC-Yellow Bus Strike, can not help to complain how stressful it can be on us parents.  The Yellow Bus Transportation system although a private entity, are employed (by contract), to the BOE.  The Yellow Bus Transportation system is responsible for the transportation of 150,000 Special Needs children to school!  It is even more annoying for me because I have to transport two kids to two different schools.  (I will not even complain about the fact that have arthritis in both knees, gout in one foot, & possible nerve damage in my left foot due to diabetes - which combined can be very excruciating!)  But I must admit I have an advantage than most parents.  I reside on the East-side as well as both children attending school on the East-side, which is approximately a mile from my home in either direction;  I am also SAHM which means I do not have to go running to work and worry who is now going to pick up my child from school on time.        

Although the BOE has concocted plans to help ease the burden of parents by trying to provide Access-A-Ride for disabled individuals, and vouchers for private car service - it is not all what it is cracked up to be.  I am not sure what is the qualifications for Access-A-Ride individuals other than a physical disability, the vouchers for private car service is a joke.  According to the application forms I received, the voucher has to be given to the private car service every week (like a timesheet) and they fill out the forms.  I in turn bring the voucher forms to the school and they submit it to the BOE for approval and payment.  The payments is submitted by mail every two weeks (like a paycheck but in the mail).  But not only do I have to bring the vouchers every week to the private car service and submit it to my child's school to the BOE - I have to call them daily twice to make sure they are reminded to pick me up in the am and the pm.  And payments are for only 10 trips a week!  That means the private car service takes me to the school with my child & drops me off, and I return to where ever on my own.  In addition, I have to meet the private car service at the school after I have picked up my child.  I have not even stated the fact that the list I was given for the private car services - only two are in my area.

I was even told by some parents, that the private car services they called had no idea what the BOE voucher was about?!  They knew that the yellow buses were on strike but that is all!  And the fact that the BOE was paying for private car services daily at two weeks at a time - I am sure was not appealing...HOWEVER, the best was receiving two metrocards - one for the student which had 3 free rides and the parents' metrocard which was UNLIMITED.

How can any parent complain about that - unless you have a Special Needs child which is terrified of people or Mass Transportation?!

Good Luck to any parent who has to deal with transportating their Special Needs Child in these horrendous weather conditions...

* BLOG POST # 26! * (A Celebration)

As I write my Blog Post #26, I Celebrate the fact I have written weekly for six months!  I feel accomplished to say the least.  I always wanted to write a book and those that know me - know I talk so much that I probably could write one and will.  My sister and I use to joke around with different titles I would use.  ( I won't write them down here - that was between my sister and I.  But when I do decide to write that book I hope to use one of those titles and dedicate it to her memory.)

We also celebrate a day in history, that on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day it is the Inauguration of our First Black President Barack Hussein Obama - who has been re-elected for a second term!  "Four More Years" is what all people of color are chanting on the Nation's Capitol.  What an auspicious occasion it is, not just for myself but for my sons who are also African-American.

I will not bore you with my soliloquy but leave you with an excerpt of our 44th POTUS Inauguration Speech:

"We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths –- that all of us are created equal –- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.  (Applause.) 

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began.  For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.  (Applause.)  Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law  –- (applause) -- for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.  (Applause.)  Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote.  (Applause.)  Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity -- (applause) -- until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.  (Applause.)   Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia, to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and cherished and always safe from harm."

January 21, 2013  

Losing A Friend...(Post 25)

 Here I am Monday evening stressing-out over the NYC - Yellow Bus Strike.  Wondering how I am going to take my youngest son to school who is on the Autism Spectrum.  I also have to drop-off my oldest son to school.  When the bus comes at 7 am for my youngest child that gives me an hour to drop-off the oldest one to school.  Now the afternoon pick-up is going to be a hustle as well!

I decided to go on facebook on Tuesday morning to see how my friends and colleagues are going to manage.  When I see a message from my mother's cousin telling me to pray for my friend?!  (It so happens my friend Renee ironically lives on the same block as my cousin.)  So I quickly go to my friend's page to see what is going on.  Lo & behold a message is posted from Renee's brother stating she was in a medically induced coma and to pray fervently?!  After the initial shock wears off I send a message to my cousin, then my friend's brother, and locate her sister who knows me - and send her a message too.  Come to find out my friend Renee went in for surgery on her ovarian cysts.  She is discharge from the hospital, and when she is home becomes unexpectedly ill.  An ambulance was called and takes her to the ER where she is placed in a medically induced coma!  All I could think about is what happened to my own sister 9 years ago...

In the midst of this shock, I recall the last conversation I had with Renee.  It was in November, right after Hurricane Sandy and she wished me a Happy Belated B-day .  I happened to notice her post on fb after the Hurricane, where she is asking for Help.  I immediately call her and she tells me laughingly, the post was for her mother to come get her & the kids.  Her mother did in fact rescue her.  We go on to discuss our kids, life, and how & when we are going to meet up.  I tell her I am planning to relocate in June to FL - indeed we need to *see* each other very soon!  "Maybe I'll see you in December if it is not too cold and my mother can drive me?"  Those were the last words I said to her...

I met Renee my Freshman year in college at FAMU in Tallahassee, FL.  Someone on campus thought we should meet because we were both from Harlem, NYC.  Although we both never graduated from there and left at two different completely times - we never lost touch with one another.  She always called me and looked out for me!

Now a month later to when I was suppose to see her, she is in a coma fighting for her life!  My sister was never the same when she came out of the coma.  In fact she died a few months later.  And left my 9 year old nephew behind to my mother/ his grandmother.  My friend Renee has 5 children, including a set of twins.  I asked the family permission to visit with her and offered my services to help with her children?  (I miss her already and it hurts.)  In the meantime I pray for my dear friend...                  

2013 - New Years or New Fears...

For some reason or another I did not feel like New Years came in with a big bang.  It sorted came in when the clock struck 12 - like "Hey, Happy New Year?"  Perhaps it was just my sentiment.  And for the first time in many years both kids were almost sleep.  I actually woke them up to me blowing the horns and yelling with my mother.  I do not know if that was the over all sentiment of folks, but the days following New Years - as I was wishing people "Happy New Years" - folks were like thanks?  Then I said to myself, maybe with the events of Hurricane Sandy and the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT - people just were not feeling it!  And that is perfectly understandable.  With the economy the way it is, people out of work and can't find jobs - money is tight all around - people are not in a celebratory mood.

I could not help to be selfish and think how grateful I am for all that I have - which is not much.  But as I stated a few months ago, I am looking forward to relocating this year!  This would be the first time I ever lived in a house!  And I will be able to raise my children in a home where they can play in the backyard!  So many of my friends after high school went on to complete college (in which I left after 18 mos), now have spectacular jobs with a big house, two new vehicles - "seemingly" the perfect life!  While for the past ten years I sat behind regretting my past decisions.

Hopefully all that will be behind me now.  I am finally going to achieve the impossible American Dream!  I will finally complete my B.A. degree and possibly open up my own business!  My possibilities will be endless!!  This is all due to my mother who persevered in my sister's medical malpractice case and won - after nine long years!  I will soon be doing better than all my peers - which was not something I was trying to accomplish.        

All that I ask from the Divine Mother - that we will make the right choice in location for the boys and everything will go as planned.  But the most important thing will be for all of us to be safe and secure, healthy and happy...

That is what New Years should be about -  WISHING FOR A SAFE & SECURE, HEALTHY & HAPPY YEAR...