Part 1 (2/2)

Reasons

There was an old worandmother to everyone and would play pinochle with Elinda She was in there for killing her husband and children Another wo there, Elinda thought Those wonored, they did what they said they were going to do old worandmother to everyone and would play pinochle with Elinda She was in there for killing her husband and children Another wo there, Elinda thought Those wonored, they did what they said they were going to do

Another woman who spent time at the hospital while Elinda lived there wasdepression and schizophrenia But oddly, they weren't aware of each other

Elinda could never come up with a clear, solid reason why she was there in the first place No specific label or co what I could have had is crazy, crazy,” she has told ht my brain all the time now”

When she left, she orse than when she entered

Saved

Matt told ot lost at the Medical Lake hospital when I was four We had gone with Mobehind doors, trying not to laugh Finally Matt found me, just before I walked into the outstretched arown a story once about how I alot lost at the Medical Lake hospital when I was four We had gone with Mobehind doors, trying not to laugh Finally Matt found me, just before I walked into the outstretched arown

After Medical Lake

When Elinda turned twenty-four, she left Medical Lake and was married soon after Joseph, her first husband, like Mom's first husband, was a terribleand was physically and emotionally abusive He treated Elinda like less than an animal and accepted money fronant with the child of one of his friends and, despite her situation, wanted to keep the baby twenty-four, she left Medical Lake and was married soon after Joseph, her first husband, like Mom's first husband, was a terribleand was physically and emotionally abusive He treated Elinda like less than an animal and accepted money fronant with the child of one of his friends and, despite her situation, wanted to keep the baby

Elinda and Joseph were living in Pasco at the time, not far froe in Kennewick I was just a toddler

Mo that Elinda would probably not be allowed to care for the baby herself The baby was going to be half-black, and whether that was part of the reason or not, Dad refused to be a caregiver for another child

When the baby, a girl, was born, Elinda was allowed to be a iven up for adoption

Elinda's troubled e soon came to an end Joseph became more violent than usual and kicked her front teeth out and broke her nose He told her that if she didn't leave, he was going to kill her So she left

She served hi to cut him out of her life, but he didn't file the papers properly and thirty years later, after he died, she found out that they were never legally divorced

Bird Whistles

One of my earliest memories of Elinda is the bird whistle trick Matt and I had these plastic whistles that were shaped like birds You would put water in them and blow into a hole by their tails and it would sound like the fluttering tweet of a bird My sister was sitting on the front porch of our house, watching the traffic on Washi+ngton Street or iant neon cross of the Nazarene church across from us Matt and I would hide around the corner and blow on the whistles Elinda would whip her head around and shout, ”Where's that bird at? Birdie? Birdie birdie?” earliest memories of Elinda is the bird whistle trick Matt and I had these plastic whistles that were shaped like birds You would put water in them and blow into a hole by their tails and it would sound like the fluttering tweet of a bird My sister was sitting on the front porch of our house, watching the traffic on Washi+ngton Street or iant neon cross of the Nazarene church across from us Matt and I would hide around the corner and blow on the whistles Elinda would whip her head around and shout, ”Where's that bird at? Birdie? Birdie birdie?”

Dad saw us through theand shook his head Mos

Elinda stayed with us soht, she awoke at 3:30 a but she could smell alcohol on his breath She didn't knohat to do and thought for aThe house was quiet and she felt paralyzed He climbed on top of her She decided that she could not scream because she didn't want to wake up any of us kids us soht, she awoke at 3:30 a but she could smell alcohol on his breath She didn't knohat to do and thought for aThe house was quiet and she felt paralyzed He climbed on top of her She decided that she could not scream because she didn't want to wake up any of us kids

I was probably four at the ti upstairs I reht in that house, Moht” Then I'd answer, ”Sleep tight” Then she'd say, ”Don't let the bedbugs bite” We would repeat this, back and forth, even as she leftht”

”Don't let the bedbugs bite”

I did not know about what happened between Elinda and Dad until the day after his funeral Mom wanted to have soain So she and I ended up at a new Sonic drive-in We ordered root beer floats and for the first time ever, we spoke openly about the dysfunctions of the family She told me more about her first husbands, about Elinda's childhood, about why she stayed with Dad, even though it was evident that there was little love from him

I felt bad for Mo on behalf of Dad for not being a good father When she told me the story about him and Elinda, it answered one question I had always had: Why was there no affection displayed in our fausted The kind of disgust that flowed through our bloodline and poisoned everyone in our house

Dad had ht

Last Man

Elinda went to Yakiot an abortion after that She came back to our house a feeeks later nobody knehere she had gone or that she had been pregnant She knew that she had to tell someone, so she told Mom I believe this was the moment when all of Mom's affection for Dad disappeared After that, Dad constantly becaer that was made up of jealousy, resentment, and e that rong-a broken wiper on the truck, a h Then once, late at night when they were alone again, Dad went over and sat next to Elinda on the couch He put his arm around her and told her he loved her and wanted to marry her She told him, ”You can remove your hand, and I wouldn't ot an abortion after that She came back to our house a feeeks later nobody knehere she had gone or that she had been pregnant She knew that she had to tell someone, so she told Mom I believe this was the moment when all of Mom's affection for Dad disappeared After that, Dad constantly becaer that was made up of jealousy, resentment, and e that rong-a broken wiper on the truck, a h Then once, late at night when they were alone again, Dad went over and sat next to Elinda on the couch He put his arm around her and told her he loved her and wanted to marry her She told him, ”You can remove your hand, and I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man on earth”