Posting of this story will be moved to Wednesday nights, as the Castle premiere is coming up (can't wait!) and my homework load won't allow me to both post and watch it live. So, Wednesday nights it is! Sorry for the delay. Hope you enjoy!
March 4, 1999
Dear Mom,
Dad did finally show up last night a little after midnight. Stone cold drunk. They almost wouldn't release me to him until I pointed out that I'm nineteen and legally an adult. Then I found out he drove here, and when he was driving us back home I honestly thought I was going to be in two crashes in twenty-four hours. I could driven better with my pain meds.
I know I didn't have to go to classes today, but I certainly didn't want to stick around the house and wait for Dad to wake up. My arm's in a sling, and the first thing Lanie said to me was, "What the hell happened to you, girl?" I told her everything, including the part about Dad's drunkenness. I know you two used to say there are some things that should remain privately family matters, but in this situation I don't think it applies anymore. Lanie acts more like family should than Dad does, and after class we went back to her dorm and discussed her family for a change. Her dad died when she was ten, and she's been estranged with her mother since around seventeen. We both are pretty alone in the world, but she's obviously dealing with it better than I am. Maybe it's because it's new and fresh for me, or maybe she's already been through the ringer when her dad passed away and this is just a repetition. Whatever the reason, I'm glad I found her. She's one in a million, Mom, and she shows me so much how to be strong and take it one day at a time and that I can't drop out of life. Plus since she's pre-med she's not squeamish about helping me change the bandages on my upper right arm-really hard to do with my left in a sling.
In other news, the paperwork's gone through for my switching of majors; I still have three-fourths of my pre-law classes under my belt, but luckily that gets me out of about a year of criminal justice and I can still graduate on time if I pick up a few extra credits. I had my first classes for my new major today, and Lanie's really taking an interest-she even says maybe in med school she'll focus on becoming a medical examiner instead of a pediatrician. Kids are a hassle to deal with anyway. Wouldn't it be funny if someday we ended up working together, me a cop and her an ME? Not likely to happen, but anything's possible.
Love,
Kate