Off to Charleston!

[Barbara L]

Remember the birth mom who asked my friend to adopt her baby? The money ran out so she has to be out of her house today. She said some friends in Charleston will be helping her out (job, car to use, etc.), so she is going down there. She called awhile ago and said that her ride fell through and asked if we could drive her down. James has always wanted to go to Charleston, and I have heard that they have beautiful Christmas lights. Depending on how things work out we will either drop her off and get back home late tonight, or we might stay down there. We really can't afford it, but we will probably stay there, since it is about a 4 hour drive. That way James can see it at night and during the day. I'm bringing my laptop (if I don't forget!), so if we stay I will probably be back on tonight. Otherwise I will be back on tomorrow night.

Have a nice day everyone!

Barbara

 

[pdswife]

Have a ton of fun!

 

[ChefJune]

Everything happens for a reason, Barbara.

Have a safe and fun trip.

 

[sattie]

Have fun and be safe... I'm off to Jefferson today for haunted house tours!

 

[middie]

Have a safe trip Barbara and Sattie. Ooh haunted house tours sounds like alot of fun !!

 

[Barbara L]

That sounds like fun sattie!

Well, it turns out the "friend" she had here was an online (apparently just recent) friend whom she had never met. We got her there a little after 9:00 p.m. When she went in she said to wait a few minutes. We assumed she was going to give us the promised (and needed) gas money and say goodbye. We sat there about 20 minutes. I'm pretty sure I saw her peeking out a window. Oh well, we did it to help out. I know that she wants to move back up to our area again, since that is where her mom and kids live. If we hear from her again it will probably be, "Can you come pick me up?"

Since it was so late, we decided to stay here. We plan to do a little sight-seeing tomorrow, since James has never been to Charleston before. I have only been twice--once on a school field-trip to Fort Sumter, and once for a weekend with friends.

Barbara

 

[elaine l]

Barbara, you are certainly a kind hearted soul. I admire you and what you do to help others.

 

[texasgirl]

Barbara, you have done what you could for this lady. Enough is enough. Being down and out does not mean for a person to be outright RUDE and ungrateful. No more!! You two are too kind and if she calls again, say, I'm happy we could help you, but, we have moved on and cannot help you any longer.

 

[Adillo303]

Barbara - There is one above us all, and he said "Whatever you do for others, you do for me." Yes, I am paraphraising. It feels good to do good things for people that need it and we do not always get rewarded "right away". I do believe that the reward will be coming.You did a good thing, you and James are good people.

AC

 

[Barbara L]

Thanks everyone. We do try, and we have been fortunate enough that others have helped us out when we needed it. I'm afraid it is time for her to learn to stand on her own two feet now though. But that doesn't mean we will turn our backs on her. We can't afford to support her, and until she stops expecting everyone to do everything for her she will never really grow up. We gave her some inspirational books and a bible for Christmas (which she did appreciate), and she has my email address and has been invited to stay in touch. I really worry about her because she is searching for love and acceptance but doesn't realize that indiscriminate sex with 20(ish) year old boys (she is 31) isn't the way to find it. Hopefully the seeds we (and our friend Christi) have planted will someday grow to bear fruit and she will finally gain some self-respect. She is sorely missing that.

Barbara

 

[phinz]

I want a Charleston report... I miss my city.

 

[PieSusan]

BarbaraL, I am so surprised that this woman is 31 years old and has the emotional maturity of a 16 year old. Thank goodness she had enough sense to know that she could not care for her child and that your friends will have the baby to love and raise and teach right from wrong. I just hope that substance abuse is not in the picture. It would be helpful to the new parents to learn as much as they can about both birth parents and their families. There are a lot of heredity health issues that this child should be able to know about so that healthy choices can be made.

 

[Barbara L]

BarbaraL, I am so surprised that this woman is 31 years old and has the emotional maturity of a 16 year old. Thank goodness she had enough sense to know that she could not care for her child and that your friends will have the baby to love and raise and teach right from wrong. I just hope that substance abuse is not in the picture. It would be helpful to the new parents to learn as much as they can about both birth parents and their families. There are a lot of heredity health issues that this child should be able to know about so that healthy choices can be made.

Substance abuse is in the picture (at least it was, and possibly will be again, if it isn't already). No one (including the birth mom) knows who the father is. The baby started out small but is doing very well now. Her new brothers (the adoptive parents already had two boys) have various health problems (one has an extremely bad peanut allergy as well as, I believe, asthma, and the younger is [mildly] autistic), so hopefully the baby will not have any issues that will add to the medical "fun!"

Phinz, we didn't get to spend much time in Charleston, but we did have a fantastic lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., and we did some shopping (mostly just looking) at the Marketplace (whatever it is called!--between N and S Market Street). We drove down to the Battery and saw some of the gorgeous houses, but it was getting dark so we didn't get a good look at any of them. I think James saw enough on our trip that he will definitely want to go back (this was his first time), and I know I want to go back.

Barbara

 

[phinz]

Bubba Gump? I can get Bubba Gump in Gatlinburg.

 

[Barbara L]

LOL Yeah, but we had never been to one. (The first one I ever saw was in Williamsburg). Our souvenir glasses say Charleston on them. My appetizer was amazing! So was my dessert. And the meal was pretty good too.

Barbara

 

[phinz]

Tommy Condon's. Hymen Seafood. The Noisy Oyster. Magnolias. SNOB. The Crab House, and so MANY others... Man, I wish I'd been able to take you around and show you my favoritest town in the whole wide world.

 

[Barbara L]

I have eaten at Hymen Seafood before. Someday we will go back when we have time to really enjoy ourselves and will try the local places. James is such a "Forrest Gump" fan, and it was right there on Market Street (where we planned to shop), so I am glad we went there. When we go next time, we will let you know so you can drop everything and come give us a tour! Well, you could give us an online tour anyway! It really is a beautiful city, and the people we talked to were all very friendly.

Barbara