truth is stranger than fiction

In the past 10 days I have been involved in court proceedings, twice. The first was a mediation set up by the juvenile court for some mischievous youngsters that vandalized and stole items from our home we were in the process of moving out of in July. I'm talking really young, like 8,9,10 and they were our neighbors. So, the mediation is going ok, but the dad of three of the boys, who is a real estate agent, who accessed our house improperly (showing his family - probably why the boys thought they could use it as a clubhouse) kept telling his son to "tell the truth", and then he starts getting hostile and verbally abusive toward me. I am still missing a bracelet that my mother had given to me after her brain surgery. I had taken it off to clean and set it on a hook in my closet. Gone. Well this, so-called, "good friend and neighbor" proceeded to tell me that it wasn't as valuable as I was claiming and that he saw a broken bracelet on the right side of my counter (whatever that means). I went home and located the broken bracelet (not the one I'm missing) and it is in a fabric pouch and that has been in a box. I was so creeped out that he had been through my stuff my skin crawled. He started describing more and more things in detail and trying to tell US whose house was robbed how invaluable those items were. Darren finally stood up and said, "we're done here, we don't have to take this." The dad was eventually kicked out of the proceedings for hostile behavior. We then promptly filed an ethics complaint with the real estate and licensing division and are contemplating filing a civil suit. I was so emotionally spent I called in sick the next day and spent all the hours in bed.

The second: I attended the sentencing hearing for my dear, dear friends who have been through a nightmare for the past four years... a raid of their home by Homeland Security, a 135 count indictment, ruined reputations, families destroyed, a prosecution that cost the US government over 2 million dollars and for what... misdemeanors and a 50.00 fine. They had to plead to something, because the US attorneys office will not lose face. I wish someone would trace this case and the political maneuverings that occurred; who became a judge, who got promoted. The overwhelming support in letters from governments, associations, adoptive parents about the humanitarian efforts, professional conduct and good character was in favor of my friends. Did any of this come out in the press? NO. I am so baffled and quite scared how twisted information became. The newspaper blogs have been psychotic and viral. Some concerned citizens were going to have a meeting to discuss things. I wrote in that I was sorry I couldn't make the meeting, but reminded them not to forget their white hoods. "Be afraid, be very afraid," keeps going through my head. After the hearing I didn't have a chance to see my friends, they left quickly to escape the mounds of press waiting outside, who wouldn't even talk to anyone remotely connected to the defense. I went to a restaurant to eat and had a cold one (I won't tell you of what) and then walked into a hair salon and asked if someone could cut and color my hair. It felt good to vent to a total stranger. All the while I thought about my friends, and how I have never in my life known people such as them. I feel I know their hearts and through all these court cases they have been nothing short of genuine, they have never changed their story... how can they it is the story of their life. I love them and their children and am so sorry this tornado of craziness has hit them and and uprooted everything. So if you happen to read about this, DO NOT believe everything you see in print. I miss you guys!

So I wake today and learn a professor who was instrumental in me going back to school and getting my master's degree has been cited for lewd behavior. I mean really lewd behavior. I feel awful for his family and children. Ahhh, I can't keep up... I'm getting nervous to ever walk out the door again.

Really, I couldn't make any of this up if I tried. I'm creative, but this is stretching it.