The following day I rushed home from school because I wanted to know who our visitor was the evening before. Something was happening and no one was telling me. Why do parents always have to keep so many secrets? I'm a freshman and by no means a child anymore. I deserve to know everything, especially if it's about me.
I had to wait until after dinner and my brother and sister were in bed to sit down with my mom and dad. My mother did most of the talking, beginning with reminders of Patty (the child with cerebral palsy) and how she is gone from home for periods of time getting special treatment for her disability. Patty has a sponsor who is helping her get the medical attention she needs. It seemed that Mr. Smith was looking for other children to help, and Pauline (Patty's mom) gave him my name.
My mother continued, "He came to visit us last night to learn more about you and to see if he could perhaps help you. He's a mason with the Al Beddoo Shriner's organization, and it's his goal to find as many children in need as possible. So next week you and I are getting on the train and going to Spokane to the Shriners Hospital for Children to meet with the doctors. But...there are no promises...it's just for a consultation."
This was all beginning to make sense to me now except for the "money." I knew my parents didn't have much money; and my father was working three jobs since my grandfather had been killed the year before. When I questioned my mother about it, she explained that Mr. Smith would be providing the train tickets, the hotel room, and some spending money for us.
My dad proceeded to tell me that he wouldn't be going with us because he needed to work and take care of my brother and sister, but he would be thinking of us while we were gone. He also mentioned that we were going to be meeting his Aunt Clara and Uncle Barney who lived in Spokane.
Clara and Barney? It sounded like a couple of characters from the comic strips, but oh so little did I know back then.
To be continued...
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