Thank heavens! Just as SDXB is about to leave town, abandoning his feckless daughter (let’s call her Pauline, as in “Perils of…”) to deal alone with AHCCCS (Arizona’s ungenerous answer to Medicaid), the Department of Economic Security, the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, another pending eviction, the usual array of angry creditors, and several flying phalanxes of lawyers, an angel has stepped in to pick up the reins while he’s gone.
Somewhere along the line, incredibly, Pauline managed to make friends with a nice Mormon girl, who has taken an interest in the current flurry of perils. She has accompanied Pauline to DES and otherwise helped out. Even more incredible: this lady has galvanized the LDS Aid Society to come to Pauline’s rescue! They are on their way to her house as we speak to pack her up and get her out of there, and not only that, they’ve found a place for her to stay!
Do you realize what a miracle this is? Pauline has no, zero, zip credit. She has been evicted from three houses for nonpayment of rent, one of which had its garage door busted down by the Repo Man, who wished to drive her car back to its rightful owner, the lender. She can’t even get a checking account: SDXB had to get her a savings account at his credit union, and to do that he had to sign on it. Only a saint would even think of renting to this woman.
And…well, I can tell you for sure: a nice Mormon girl is about as unlikely a friend for Pauline as you can imagine.
For SDXB, this is the best news that’s come along in weeks. Make that months. Since there seemed to be no way to get her into another house, he was about to look into trying to get her and the kids into a homeless shelter (although he expected the rabid, possibly homicidal ex-husband would use the opportunity to nail permanent custody of the brats), where she would have to camp until he could get back from Texas and waypoints.
Let’s hope these women do some serious proselytizing and maybe even convert Pauline. LDS provides exactly the kind of social network that a feckless, generally abused soul like Pauline needs. And they promulgate a highly functional way of thinking that Pauline has failed to imbibe during her forty-two years. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that the shock of her injury and total financial and social collapse has finally gotten her attention. Maybe she’ll be open to learning a new way to structure her life…something that will work for her and for her children.
Personally, LDS is not my cup of tea. But for some folks, it has a great deal to recommend it: solid values, clean living, a powerful social network, and an ethic that fosters steadiness and responsibility. IMHO, Pauline would benefit enormously from the influence of this group.
Image by Philipp Spinnler:
Statue of the Angel Moroni, Berne Temple, Switzerland
Wikipedia Commons
My daughter had a friend with a wacko mother. They moved away post-Katrina (b/c landlord tripled rent) and we were so worried about her, not to mention her two younger brothers. The mother, with alcohol and other problems, kicked her daughter out of the house at 15. The girl was taken in by a Mormon family and she lived with them for a few years. Amazingly, she then found another kind family to take her in. Next year, she will be at the U of North Carolina at Chapel Hill!
@ frugalscholar: That’s exactly the story of a friend of mine from graduate school. Almost identical! The alcoholic mother remarried, selecting an alcoholic mate. The two of them threw my friend out at about the age of 14 or 15. She was taken in by the Mormons, lived with a Mormon family for several years, became a dance instructor. Then went on to college, got an M.A. in English, wised up, and went to law school. She’s now a prominent immigration lawyer here in the Valley.
She actually converted, becoming one of the two liberal Mormons I’ve ever met.
Pauline, though, is no 15-year-old. She’s a 42-year-old woman who’s pretty sot in her ways. One never knows, though…maybe an old dog can be taught new tricks. At the very least, maybe the children, who by now are in bad shape psychologically, can be rescued.
One of my best friends from HS and college is a Mormon. I adore her family to bits. They more or less raised a third friend of ours (whose also alcholic parents used to lock her out of the house whenever the spirits moved them).
We may agree to disagree on theology, but on social responsibility, no arguement!
Having lived in Salt Lake City for 4 years, I can say there are worse things than having Mormon neighbours, even if it does mean having two earnest young men in suits and ties knock on your door many weekends. The trick to discouraging that is to answer the door in your bathrobe — scares them off really quick!
@ Shelley: LOLOL! We used to say we were Catholic, thank you.