Becoming An Adult

When she was seventeen she was informed the county court did not know what else to do with her so she was declared a legal adult. She would need to move out of the foster home where she currently resided.

Where would she go? How would she finish school? How would she live?

Too many questions and not enough experience or resources to find answers. After talking to various associates and determining that she had nowhere to go and no money to get somewhere, she called her birth mother. She had remained in contact with her mother but had not lived with her for many years.

Her mother was working in a city nine hours drive from where she was but her mother agreed to drive there and take her back to live with her.

The time in the car proved to be more interesting than she thought it would be. She and her mother talked without arguing. When a police man pulled the mother over for speeding, the young girl could not keep from interfering. While writing the ticket, the police man yapped "Lady, you passed me like I was painted on a sign". The girl, who had actually been driving for five years, albeit illegally the first three years, considered herself knowledgeable about driving. And after all, hadn't she just been declared an adult? So the girl leaned forward in the passenger seat and challenged the police officer with "Why aren't you stopping all the other people who were driving over the speed limit? She was just driving with the flow." It didn't come as a surprise that the man writing the ticket ignored her question.

After all the years of dissension, the girl realized in a blink of an eye that she had for the first time stood up for her mother. Maybe it wasn't a wise thing to mouth off to a police officer, but the fact was, the girl found herself in new territory emotionally.

Many miles later, the speeding ticket incident behind them, they found themselves in a city that was new to both of them. There were signs along the freeway that kept saying Cow Palace. The mother said maybe it was a huge dairy. They decided to visit the Cow Palace and get some chocolate milk and have a little break from all the driving.

They had to pay to park in a huge parking lot. "This better be worth it" they both said. The mother went to the ticket cage and bought two tickets. She was laughing as she walked back to where the girl was waiting. She handed the ticket to the girl and said they would be seeing a circus. This would be the first time the girl would see a circus.

The city was San Francisco which became a favorite city for the girl as she grew up. A city she returned to visit many times over her lifetime. She only lived with her mother for three months, just enough time to complete the last semester of high school and find a job and a small apartment. At seventeen years old she was enchanted with her first circus performance and three months later she held her diploma tightly in her hands. She had a job that would provide enough income to support her. She now accepted her adult status.