HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY from the ARLIN REPORT

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms.   Have a wonderful day!

A WORKING MOM: TAKING CARE OF HER CHILDREN

This past Wednesday evening while I was waiting for the Metro Link blue line train I was reading an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the autopsy of Michael Brown.  The same page of the paper shared an article of Officer Darren Wilson’s accounting of the shooting.  I was buried in the story when a soft female voice ask “So what are they saying today?”  I hadn’t even realized someone had set down beside me on the granite bench.

I looked up, turned slightly to face a young female black lady between the age of 27 to 32.  “I was just reading about the autopsy”, I said, not having to say “who’s”.   I had the paper open wide enough she could see the headlines.   I wasn’t sure how she would respond, and waiting for the train, she could have been from or near Ferguson.  She did not share an opinion, nor did I.   She then said without any hesitation, “I don’t even watch the news anymore.  I just want to go to work, go home and take care of my children.”  I ask the young lady where she was from, “St. Louis, but I grew up in St. Charles.”  For those of you not familiar with our area, St. Charles is a suburb west of St. Louis.   I told her I really liked St. Charles, she smiled and said “I do too and miss living there.”   I told her I lived in Fenton (another suburb, south-west of St. Louis).   “I have thought of moving to Fenton someday” she said…….”It’s quieter”.

Our conversation, while it only lasted about five minutes, left an impression on me.  I thought about her comment……”I just want to go to work, go home and take care of my children.”   I thought about her words for a while, with a slight grin I must admit.   She too has grown tired of all the noise, wants to take care of her family in peace.  I enjoyed our short chat.