65 Roomates

One day I got to wondering, just how many people have I shared a roof with over the years. I got to counting and was somewhat shocked with the numbers. 65 roommates in 33 years in 27 places. It was something like that.

As I was connecting people to places, my brain reached way back and pulled out a memory that I wasn't sure was true. It was the memory of a retarded foster sister.

If I hadn't started this project, I would never be able to remember and honor my foster sisters. One was a troubled teen and the other one, the Other (foster) Sister, was only a little bit older than me at somewhere between preschool and first grade.

When I told my siblings of the possibly imaginary retarded foster sister, they thought I was trying to be a comedian. I said, "No, really. I'm gonna ask mom and dad."

Mom acted really strange about it. It became so much more mysterious when she wouldn't answer my question directly.

"Why are you doing this!? Why do you want to know!?" What's wrong with you!?

"Because I just started counting and now I NEED to know. I need an accurate head count. I think I have lived with 65 people in 33 years but I am not sure, and I won't even be completely sure on the number with this."

"Why? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Not really."

She was acting so strange you would think that she buried the kid in the backyard just to collect foster kid checks.

She reluctantly confirmed that yes, there was a retarded foster sister.

"She was very high maintenance," she said.

I text messaged my dad on the subject. His initial reaction was, "what the hell are you talking about?" He didn't respond right away. He recalled her freaking out on the side of the road when our Volkswagon van broke down somewhere in Wisconson. He had nearly forgotten his own retarded foster child.

I confirmed the existence of this housemate/'sibling,' and settled with 65 as a good approximate number.

If you're out there retarded foster sister, Yo, what's up? And I hope my mom wasn't too mean to you.

Dad said he saw the other not retarded foster sister at an AA meeting once several years ago and then never saw her again. She said, "I understand why you're here, that wife of yours was so mean!"