CHANGE OF LIFE - Chapter 17

On Monday Maggie, the two girls, and I went to the police station which had answered my call. At the police station Maggie talked to the desk sergeant.

“Sergeant, I need some advice concerning the law. I don’t know who to see to get an order to protect my daughters. Last Friday, my husband showed up at the house demanding to see his daughters. He was going to take them with him. He was drinking and mean.  He slapped my babysitter, knocking her to the ground.

“He left us last year, the day before Thanksgiving. I haven’t heard from him since then. He hasn’t sent any money to help support our daughters. The policeman who responded to the call said that I need a court order or else he has a legal right to see them or take them with him. Who do I see to get a court order?  I can’t afford a lawyer; I am barely able to support us. I have to work, but now I am afraid to go away from the house.”

“Go to the Department of Human Services. Ask to speak with a Child Protection officer. Tell him or her what you have just told me. Let me see if that incident report from last Friday has been typed. If it has, your babysitter can sign it; I’ll give her a copy. Take her copy with you.”

He went into another room.

“Sit down and wait just a few minutes. I told them to put that report on the top of the pile. Someone is typing it as we speak.”

In about ten minutes, a middle aged woman came out of the other room with several copies of a form. She had me sign the report and then gave Maggie a copy. The sergeant gave us directions to the nearest DHS office. The house was on the way. We stopped and fortified ourselves with milk and cookies and freshened up before continuing on our way.

The DHS office was very busy. The waiting room was filled with people of all ages. They were all alike in one respect – they were poor and losing hope. Maggie went to the reception desk and told them that she wanted to see a Child Protection officer.  She was given a number.

Apparently the crowd was not waiting on the Child Protection officer. Her number was called in about five minutes. A kindly woman with grey hair, frameless glasses, and a neat blouse and skirt stood up to greet her. Later Maggie told me what happened.

“Mrs. O’Toole, my name is Martha Kappell. An officer from our Department, Mrs. Elizabeth Shepherd, visited with you a week or so ago. I have her report here on my desk. How can I help you?”

Maggie told her what had happened on Friday. She gave her the police report.

“Mrs. O’Toole, there are several ways that we can help you. First, you can apply for food stamps. That will ease your economic pressure somewhat. With this police report, our legal staff can get a protection order for you, your children, and whoever cares for your children while you are working. They can ask the judge for an order of supervised visitation. Your husband would have to visit the girls at a place and time we specify and he would be supervised by one of our employees. Finally, they can ask the judge to order your husband to pay child support. If he doesn’t start paying in a reasonable time, then we will go after him for it ourselves.

“I want you to know that Mrs. Shepherd said many good things about you, about your home, and about your two girls. We want to help you in every way we can. Being a single mom is difficult under the best circumstances. You don’t need to be worrying about money and worrying about the safety of your girls. I’m going to take you over to the food stamp worker. I will make a copy of this police report so I can return this copy to your babysitter. I will also tell our legal staff to get a copy of the missing person report you filed and the result of it.”

I waited with the two girls for over an hour. When Maggie came out she was smiling.

“These girls have been so good I would like to treat them and us to some ice cream,” I said.

In the days and week to follow, Maggie’s visit generated a half dozen letters from the DHS: A letter summarizing her visit, a letter from the legal staff telling her when Family Court would be hearing her complaint against Sean Casey O’Toole. She received a temporary order of protection. Then she received a card containing her food stamp amount for the month. It would be reloaded every month.

The girls and I resumed our daily walks. I found a used clothing store and was able to buy several nice dresses, some skirts and blouses, and a pair of blue jeans. On Friday I took the girls on the el to the Lincoln Park Zoo. We spent the whole day there.

On Saturday, at Story Hour, there were even more children. This day I read the book The Story of Babar the Little Elephant.  After reading each page I would show the illustration on that page to the children. I would ask questions to see if they were understanding the story. I was surprised that the older children liked the book. Afterward, I showed them the other books about Babar that the Library had to loan. Then I read The Giving Tree, the book I had picked for the older children.

I felt good about how well the children were responding to Story Hour, at how well behaved they were, and how I was learning the children’s names and developing a real bond of affection for them. I had never been a mother, but the maternal instincts in me were awakening.  

On Sunday I took the girls to Sunday School and church at the Methodist church. In the women’s class a woman came up to me,

“You are the woman that all the kids call ‘Dolly’.”  My name is Mrs. Victoria Halstead. I have a girl who is in the fourth grade, Linda. Her reading is so poor that they were going to hold her back. I begged them not to do it. They are going to give her a reading test when school begins. If she doesn’t pass it, she will have to repeat the fourth grade. I was wondering if you would give her reading lessons this summer?  I believe God has sent you to us. Will you please?”

“I will have to talk to Mrs. O’Toole. I am watching her girls when she is at work. Give me your address and phone number and I will be in touch with you.”

My heart nearly took wings. I didn’t have a day of college, but here I was reading books to children, and now a mother was asking me to help her daughter with reading. I had set out to find if I had worth as an individual. Already I was finding experiences that made me feel worthy. I am valuable to people besides myself.

 Monday was my day off. I decided to go to some department stores and furniture stores to look at futons. I went to a number of stores and finally found what I wanted. It had a wood frame and arms. There were springs in the frame and it had an 8” thick mattress. I inquired about delivery schedules and put a deposit on the item. I took the el back to my bank, withdrew $550, and took the el back to the store.

That evening I talked to Maggie about tutoring Linda Halstead.

“I wanted to talk to you about whether it would be all right to have her here with the girls for an hour.”

“I have no objection to her being here with the girls. However, I think it would be asking the girls to schedule her tutoring into their day. They look forward to the walks they have been taking and other ways that you interact with them. I think a better solution would be for you to go to the Halstead’s house in the evening, after I am here to watch the girls.”

I decided to go to the Halstead’s then, before it was dark.

I walked the four blocks to the Halstead’s house and knocked on the door. A man answered the door.

“I came to talk to Mrs. Halstead.”

“Why?  What are you selling?”

“I’m not selling. Mrs. Halstead talked to me at church and asked me to come and talk to her about Linda’s reading.”

“Well, I’ll call her. V-I-C-T-O-R-I-A”

Victoria Halstead appeared and her husband stepped away.

“Dolly!  I’m so glad that you came. Please come in. We can go into the kitchen. My husband is watching the evening news.

“I wanted to talk to you about helping Linda with her reading. Maggie and I talked it over. Could I come to your house Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings?”

“That sounds fine to me. Linda is at her girl friend’s house for a sleepover. I’ll tell her when she comes home tomorrow.”

“Good. I’d better be heading back to Maggie’s house before it gets dark.”

“Thank you for coming. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

I walked back to Maggie’s house. The only thing about this that made me anxious was that I would be walking home after dark,

I asked Maggie if I could use the washing machine and dryer tomorrow. I had quite a few pieces of clothing to wash, including most of what I bought at the used clothing store.

“I will try to finish my washing tomorrow. Then on Wednesday I will have the girls help me to wash your family clothes and linens. If I teach them how to do it, that could become a routine chore for them.”

“That would really be nice.”

By then it was time for Maggie to read the Bible to her girls. I usually sat in with them.

Tuesday, after putting a load of wash into the machine, I took the girls to the library. While the girls were looking for books for themselves, I consulted with the Librarian about books to read on Saturday at the Story Hour and also a book to use with Linda Halstead. When we returned from the Library, the first load of laundry was complete.  I took it out and put it into a basket. Then I put my other load into the washer. I carried the basket downstairs and hung the clothes on the clothesline in the back yard.

By then it was time to make lunch. I let the girls make a slice of toast by themselves, spread peanut butter on it, and then slice a banana on top of that. I called it a Monkey Butter Sandwich. The girls giggled. By the time they had finished lunch, the second load of wash was ready. I carried it outside and hung it on the clothesline.

The girls read books that afternoon and I prepared for my first lesson with Linda Halstead. When Maggie returned from work, I went outside and took the clothes off the clothesline. I took them to my room, folded them, and put them in the chest of drawers or hung them on a hanger on the clothes rack. Then I went upstairs to help with supper. The girls had already told their mother about their Monkey Butter sandwiches.

When I arrived at Linda Halstead’s house, she met me at the door and took me into the kitchen. Mrs. Halstead was there seated at the table.

I said, “Mrs. Halstead, I think it would be easier for Linda if we could work in private.”

Mrs. Halstead scowled and said, “I’ll have to go to my bedroom then. Harry likes to have the living room to himself.”

I had brought along the book The Story of Babar. I asked Linda to read the first page. Linda was squinting, hunching over the page, and struggling to read one word at a time.

“Linda, I want you to bring me a notebook and a pencil. Do you have them in your room?”

Linda ran up the stairs and came back down with a notebook and pencil. I copied the first page of Babar using letters with the capitals two lines tall and the other letters taking the space of one line.

“Now, Linda, try reading this page that I have written in your notebook.”

There were still words that Linda needed help with, but her reading had improved 100%.

“Linda, call your mother down here.”

When Mrs. Halstead came into the room, I said,

“Mrs. Halstead, Linda needs eyeglasses. Her reading is so poor because she cannot see the words clearly. That is why she squints. She still needs help with reading even after she gets eyeglasses because she has fallen behind by not being able to see the words. I am going to try to find a book at the library with large print to use until you can get her some eyeglasses.”

Mrs. Halstead did not look happy about the news I had given her.

“Well, I’ll be seeing you both tomorrow evening.”

Walking back to Maggie’s I was puzzled by Mrs. Halstead’s reaction. I thought that Mrs. Halstead should be happy that I had found the reason for Linda having difficulty reading.