October 05, 2004
Lucy in the Sky with Elephants
I met the most amazing person ever!
Quick backstory: My 18-year-old nephew has severe mental disabilities and recently lost his mother, so he requires a caretaker after school and on the weekends that his father travels. Because of the traveling, said caretaker also needs to be part housekeeper and cook.
In addition to all that, any caretaker also has to win the affection of a very challenged 18-year-old young man, who, tho' normally very sweet, can also be extremely stubborn and headstrong. Needless to say, they've been through several candidates in the past six months.
I hope the current one stays forever. I am in awe of her. Lucy. She left Czechoslovakia with $5 and a map of Chicago. No, wait, sorry -- she went to China, Taiwan and Egypt first because she wasn't sure where she wanted to end up. Then she got the map of Chicago.
She's 22, and she's been here going to school for a year and a half. So, doing the math in my head (no small task), she was 20 when she left her home with no friggin' money and went out to see the world and seek her fortune. TWENTY!
When I was 20, I was living back at my parents' house because my psycho-jealous boyfriend had kicked me out of our apartment. I quit college and worked more-than-full-time to get back on my feet and out of their house.
So basically, at 20: Me = Loser with no edumacation living in parents' house; Lucy = fearless world-traveler riding elephants through impenetrable forests.
I worship her. And to top it off, she's totally gorgeous, has a killer smile, a mind like a sponge, and a disposition like the perfect summer day.
Uh oh. I think I'm in love with her.