Frustrated
doesn’t begin to describe how I feel right now. I registered with Offender
Connect after I wasn’t able to talk to Alberto last night when he called 5
times, and today my account showed the credit available. I should have been
about to talk to him when he called me in the afternoon during my lunch break,
but for some reason the call wouldn’t connect. So I called Offender Connect and
they stated that I had the wrong number attached to my account. Considering how
precise I am when it comes to things like this I highly doubt it, but the CSR I
talked to said that she would fix it however it could take between 2 and 24
hours to be effective. I did check my account online 4 hours later and there
was no phone number whatsoever attached to my account so I added my cell phone
again. I finally got to talk to him when he called at 8 pm, so at least that
was something. Apparently they brought Alberto before a judge again yesterday
who told him he could wait 90 days or he could wait 10 days for the sheriff to
send someone to go and get him. I guess I’m not sure what that was about or
what was the difference, but I’ll make sure I find out tomorrow since he chose
to wait 10 days. Lance is of the opinion that this will quash the warrant, so
the criminal matter will no longer be blocking our immigration proceedings. I
wonder what Brian, the criminal defense attorney, will say about this new
situation.
Yet
another irritating thing that happened today was when I was making phone calls
to find out who made the arrest on Tuesday and where I could get a copy of the
record. I called the police first, and they said to check with county. I talked
to the county and they said to call the police. When I spoke to the records
department in the police station they couldn’t pull it up by name, so I had to
call the county back and get the case number. After I had the case number I
called the records department of the police again and was told they cannot tell
me anything about the record, I would have to go down and get it a copy of it
in person. At this point I was pretty irritable and said that this feat would
be quite impossible since I was in Minnesota, not Texas. I was then told that
was not her problem and I would have to send a written request by mail only
with a $1.50 to receive a copy. I hope for her sake the police report states
that Alberto turned himself in and that he said he had no intention of entering
the United States illegally.
I am
trying to remain calm though I am not succeeding as much as I would like to.
The interesting thing is that I feel almost giddy most of the time. I haven’t
had a headache all week which is pretty amazing, and I feel like dancing and
skipping wherever I go. It’s odd for me to feel so happy and I’m not quite sure
what to do with myself. Not to say that I’m still the same mostly unhappy girl
that I was 10 years ago, but when Alberto left it was almost as though all the
color and joy drained out of my world. I think I even described the feeling to
him after when went to visit him in Mexico the first time. I had my world covered
with a film like those people in the Claritin commercials we see on TV all the
time.
I
remember our first international traveling experience fondly at this time,
although I definitely would not recommend traveling international as a single
parent with an infant. Ashley was an angel on the first flight and she slept
from takeoff to taxi. We then had a 2 ½ hour layover at the Dallas/Fort Worth
airport during which we had lunch, stocked up on a few supplies, and I did my
best to tire Ashley out some before the next flight. I got many smirks,
giggles, and even some downright nasty looks from people in the airport because
I had my daughter on a leash. It was a cute little pink backpack harness with a
lead attached which she hated, but it served a purpose. After lunch I put the
carryon suitcase in the stroller and wrapped the lead in my hand and had Ashley
running up and down the atrium in front of our terminal. One lady, who turned
out to be on our flight, verbally reproved this behavior loudly to her husband.
When we boarded the plane and found ourselves all sitting in the same row, I
beamed at the woman when Ashley fell asleep soon after takeoff. It is a pain in
the ass it is to try and change a diaper in the airplane’s bathroom and very
difficult to use the bathroom yourself when you have to bring your child with
you. We arrived in Mexico City all in one piece and promptly hurried down the
hallway to wait in line at customs for an hour. We had been traveling just over
8 hours at this point and I was tired, hungry and had an extremely cranky child
on my hands so it took a patient official to talk me through the documentation
I needed to fill out. I went and picked up the check bag and was the last
person through security. They had to check the bags one more time and I was
almost in tears because I could see Alberto on the other side of the frosted
glass doors. Just as I was stacking everything up again to leave the official
stopped me because I hadn’t pushed the red button that chooses people for a
random search. The tears started burning in my eyes as I walked over to push
that damn button, and I passed through the doors at last.
There he
was, standing there waiting for us. He crouched down in front of the stroller
and the daughter he hadn’t seen since she was 8 weeks old. She studied his face
for what seemed like an endless minute then held out her arms to him. I lost it
at that point even though I tried my hardest to stem the flow of tears. I found
my camera and took their first picture together in 1 year, 1 month, and 22
days. Can you imagine what it felt like after spending all those months trying
to get past the pain of his absence, to have the scar on my heart ripped open
again just at the sight of him? I wasn’t the only one affected this way. Ashley
suffered through night terrors for months after we left Mexico and would scream
for her Papa every time I told her no. There is only so much pain a person can
withstand and walk away in one piece.
“Anyone
can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together
when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”
Ciao
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