Bye, Odilon
Ah, my poor, unused bit of cyberspace. Good thing it doesn't have feelings, then I'de feel really bad.
Today I got some sad news. Odilon, a nice man who used to do some carpentry work for my mom died on Sunday. He was shot in the head in his neighborhood off Hwy 441. A man who was with him was shot in the leg, but I think he's okay. The police are saying that it was a random act of gang violence, and I'm pretty sure that's where the inquiry will end. If anyone doesn't know this area, the neighborhood is behind the Spanish car dealership on 441 towards Commerce. It's a trailer park. The owners don't mind that you cram 10 people into one double-wide, as long as the residents don't mind that the trash isn't picked up regularly and the sewage lines are likely to go untended. Really, its a place where many illegal immigrants from Central and South America go to hide from the government while they do the difficult, low-wage jobs that keep our city running smoothly. The whole thing makes me sad, and a little afraid. I know my mother went in there often to pick Odilon up and drop him off.
Odilon was one of those really kind outgoing men who didn't really think it mattered that the person he was talking to didn't speak his language. He always had on a huge smile, and greeted everyone in lengthy Spanglish. I didn't know him well, just enough to know he had a big family back in Mexico and he was working to support them, but I know he wasn't involved in gangs or anything illegal (except perhaps living on this side of the Rio Grande). Anyway, I'm sad he's gone and that it was such an unwarranted, violent way to go that he in no way deserved. I hope his family manages. I know they shipped his body back today (after a proper in-house wake on Monday- closed casket). My mom said there were a lot of people there and it was a good, happy send-off. I guess that's what matters.
Anyway, now I'm getting sad thinking about it, so I'll go to bed. If everyone hasn't removed me from their friends list, and I would completely understand if they had, expect some pics of knitted objects in the future. I need a place to show off.
Today I got some sad news. Odilon, a nice man who used to do some carpentry work for my mom died on Sunday. He was shot in the head in his neighborhood off Hwy 441. A man who was with him was shot in the leg, but I think he's okay. The police are saying that it was a random act of gang violence, and I'm pretty sure that's where the inquiry will end. If anyone doesn't know this area, the neighborhood is behind the Spanish car dealership on 441 towards Commerce. It's a trailer park. The owners don't mind that you cram 10 people into one double-wide, as long as the residents don't mind that the trash isn't picked up regularly and the sewage lines are likely to go untended. Really, its a place where many illegal immigrants from Central and South America go to hide from the government while they do the difficult, low-wage jobs that keep our city running smoothly. The whole thing makes me sad, and a little afraid. I know my mother went in there often to pick Odilon up and drop him off.
Odilon was one of those really kind outgoing men who didn't really think it mattered that the person he was talking to didn't speak his language. He always had on a huge smile, and greeted everyone in lengthy Spanglish. I didn't know him well, just enough to know he had a big family back in Mexico and he was working to support them, but I know he wasn't involved in gangs or anything illegal (except perhaps living on this side of the Rio Grande). Anyway, I'm sad he's gone and that it was such an unwarranted, violent way to go that he in no way deserved. I hope his family manages. I know they shipped his body back today (after a proper in-house wake on Monday- closed casket). My mom said there were a lot of people there and it was a good, happy send-off. I guess that's what matters.
Anyway, now I'm getting sad thinking about it, so I'll go to bed. If everyone hasn't removed me from their friends list, and I would completely understand if they had, expect some pics of knitted objects in the future. I need a place to show off.