Ms. B + Princess (the 1st + the 2nd)

I got a call from Ms. B today.

I probably havent talked about her much here but I have on IG. She and her chihuahua, Princess, often came for food at the pantry, during the pandemic. Ms. B is unhoused. She is a central figure in my book. Our lives intersected and intertwined in unexpected ways that have made us close, even if that closeness happens sporadically and with some eccentricity.

Last summer, she came by the house. This is not unusual, she pops in from time to time. But this time, flies swarmed her. And it was over 110. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Ms. B always took great care with her appearance, so I knew this wasn’t her. She had her spots to get food, showers, hair cuts.

I looked down at the bundle of blankets sitting on her stroller and I knew…. Princess had died. Ms. B didn’t want to let her go. She didn’t know what to do with her.

Whew, it was rough.

So today, she borrows a phone to call me. She tells me: A stray found me!

This dog she says was like her “shadow.” She searched for the owner, asked around, but the dog kept showing up and she kept being happy about it. Today, they made it offical: Princess (#2) has found her people.

I’m thrilled for her. She needs a Princess in her life.

But as I walked though the park to meet her, I noticed the encampments, the way unhoused people are living in this park (near KO Knudsen) now. A park that is next to a middle school, (the middle school where my son scored a vape from an 8th grader) which is not cool because hard drugs and violence penetrate these camps. Soon, if unhoused people continue to camp in the park, we will lose the park. And then, police will come and push them out by force. And because there is no housing for them, they will hit another park.

And we start the cycle over again. And nothing will get better for the community. But I do want to celebrate Ms. B a little here, and the new Princess, because having a steady companion is pretty much everything.

And that has to be something.

Bipolar

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