A girl's gotta do...

"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do," popped to mind this morning.

This morning being March first, 2012. The above sentence is how far I got on this post. Likely due to disturbances caused by Chris' coughing, or John stomping.

The woman who said it was either young forties or late thirties. She arrived at the winter shelter with two girls. We all thought they were sisters. Her name escapes me; will call her Jane as in Jane Doe. The shelter made an exception for Jane; her two teenage daughters were allowed to stay there. Families were sent to other shelters in Long Beach; perhaps there was no room anywhere.

Neither Jane, nor her daughters were very friendly. I gave her daughters my Christmas gift ~ vague recollection now. The women who ran the shelter gave everyone gifts, t-shirts or slippers or something like that. One of the girls was disappointed the other girl got something she wanted, hence I handed over what I got, blah, blah, blah.

I saw Jane when I was walking up Long Beach Blvd. one day. Maybe she was at a bus stop, maybe I was sitting on a bench there. The memory is vague. She and her daughters were not at the shelter for a few days. When they returned, Jane told me, "A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."

I am assuming she meant prostitution. I do believe she sent one of her daughters off with a man to do what a girl gotta do. I know Jane was aware that I heard that conversation (vague memory) else she would not have said that to me, almost as if in apology or guilty feelings.

Do not know why her words suddenly popped into my mind, when the memory of the incident is practically faded away. Doubt that I would recognize Jane's daughters if I saw them today; maybe I would not recognize Jane either. I remember speaking to her a few years ago when I attended the MLK peace festival in Long Beach. If that was in 2007, memories from homeless 2004/2005 and 2006 would have been fresher in my mind.

Plus I would have my blog posts and notes to look back upon to refresh my memory. When I think of people like Jane, I wonder where all my homeless peers are today and how they are doing.