I started becoming a little more involved in Jolz' life. Jolz did some occasional part-time work at the church she attended. She would babysit kids there. Close to Christmas 1999, she was getting a lot of this extra work because they were rehearsing for the annual Christmas pageant. Sometimes, her sister Fand would assist.
One night, Jolz had a class that she couldn't get out of. There was no one else available to do the babysitting, so she asked me to take her place. Fand was still going to be there, but there were regulations regarding how many people needed to be watching a certain number of kids at any moment. I didn't think it was going to be a big deal, so I agreed.
I thought I was just going to observe the kids and make sure no one got hurt. That didn't exactly happen. Among the children were infants. Fand took care of them, so I was expected to keep the toddlers entertained. There were about five that I had to keep an eye on. IT WAS FREAKING HECTIC!
Every time I got them each doing something, at least one of them would get bored and want to do something else. One of them, a girl, sort of kept bumping into things with her hands or arms. Every time she got a boo-boo, I would ask her if she wanted me to kiss it to make it feel better. She always said yes.
I was there for three hours. There were no casualties. I knew right away it was not something I could do for a living. I decided that I needed to see if I could get paid for that. I filled out a time card, included my personal information and signed it. I didn't know if they would be willing to pay me at least minimum wage. But I guess they thought I was worth it and cut me a check, although they didn't pay me like an employee or took taxes out. (I would almost count this as a separate job. But since I only worked there one night and made less than $50, I'm just going to count it as found money.)
Later, Fand told Jolz, "Fayd was SO cute with the kids! And this one girl had him wrapped around her finger. Anytime she got kind of hurt, he would kiss the part that got hurt and make it better." Jolz responded, "Stop! Stop! STOP! You're going to make me fall in love with him!" A few moments later, she would go "Okay, okay, tell me some more!"
Jolz and I attended the Christmas pageant at the church. I'm accustomed to the church Christmas programs that feature a story, whether it's a recreation of the Nativity or an original modern story that shows how much impact Christ has on our lives, even in these times of commercialization. And I guess the church had put on those programs before. But this one was just a bunch of musical numbers (Christian and secular) with no cohesive theme. It was a variety show.
The only major event I attended with Jolz before Christmas was an awards program at the community college she attended. They had some kind of photography exhibit in which the participants provided pictures from their family history to be displayed. This was a great idea, but they were handing out awards for the pictures. At first, I thought the awards were for those who took the pictures. But they weren't doing that at all. Awards were given to the people who simply submitted the photos, some of which they probably dug out of the bottom of their sock drawers. The people who took some of these photos were dead.
I didn't understand how the judging worked. There were several different categories. Jolz' submission (which didn't win an award) was in the "Compelling Stories" category. The photo was of some distant relative who moved away from her family, never to be heard from again. The last anyone knew, she had moved to San Francisco right before the 1906 earthquake. I noticed that in the same category was a photo that appeared to have been taken for the exhibit. It didn't win an award, either.
I don't know how often someone could take part in the contest, but I can imagine someone saying, "Come on! We've got to find another picture for next year!"
The next thing for me and Jolz was the biggest night of the century. Tune in tomorrow.
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