Friday, October 24, 2008

My Weekend in Nevada

Okay, so for those of you who are following this blog, or that know me pretty well in real life, you know that I am adopted. Well, this weekend my husband and I went to Nevada to meet my biological family. Larry Carlson was my biological father, but he died on May31st, 2007. Joan was the wife he left behind, and Johnny was the son they had together. We went out on Sunday, October 19th, 2008 to meet them, and Diana, Joan's mom.

Just so you know, if I say Step mom, or Grandma, then that's Joan and Diana I am talking about, respectfully.

Anyways, we get out there after a freaking 4 hour car ride where my butt was SO dead. We kept thinking we were lost, just because the town was so remote. And there is no cell phone service out there, not much past Wendover Utah, so we couldn't call to make sure we were in the right place. But eventually we got there, and found the correct place. We met Diana outside, where she showed us her little "Grandma's Hut", a little building off to the side where there used to be a hot tub. But Diana ripped all of the stuff out and made a little room for herself when she came to stay with Joan and Johnny when Larry was dying, by Larry's request. Then we went inside, and I got to meet Joan and Johnny. I was really nice to meet them. And it was kind of funny that when I took one look at Johnny and saw his eyes, I knew we were related, because he has my eyes. I have his eyes. We have Larry's eyes. And I am not the only one who noticed. Diana and Joan both noticed right away. : )

So we spent a lot of time talking and getting to know each other. They told a lot of people I was there (by phone), and a lot of people were VERY pleasantly surprised. They told me how much I looked like Jessica, who is Joan's daughter from a previous marriage, which is quite interesting considering we have no DNA in common. Larry was not her father. Joan was not my mother. But somehow her daughter Jessica and I look alike (or at least that is what everyone says, lol).

In the town that they live in, Montello Nevada, the town has MAYBE 100 people in it max, and it has no Internet or cell phone service. (Supposedly its because the government suppresses the signals, due to the fact that they have an airbase out there where they experiment with top secret new airplanes and stuff, but I don't know. That's just what a town's person told us.) It is about 4 blocks long, and about 3 blocks wide. The school house in Montello is one room, and has 5 students (not including Johnny who opted for riding the bus for 45 minutes to an hour just to get to a bigger normal school in a larger city). It has one Motel, and it has one store that houses the gas station, the motel office, and the "grocery store". It also has 2 bars, which are pretty much the local hang out place for everyone. They both have kitchens where they cook stuff, and pool tables. Even the kids are allowed to hang out in them, they just aren't served alcohol. But they have cans of soda for them, and so they hang out with their parents, friends and neighbors, and play pool, drink soda, and listen to the juke box while the parents drink and smoke, and play slots.

I do have to say that it is quite a Tripp when people you have never met come up to you (drunk or sober) and start hugging you and telling you that "yes, indeed, your Larry's kid" and that they "had been waiting for me for years"... Its very hard to deny that Larry did love me, and talked about me and wanted to meet me when people (complete strangers) are coming up to me and saying it. But I didn't want to deny it, so that's all right with me. : )

We spent most of Sunday, all of Monday, and most of Tuesday there. Sunday night/Monday morning we spent in the hotel, which wasn't to bad. Yea, it wasn't the Hilton's, or the Belagio (sp?) in Vegas, but it was a decent size, and most importantly, it was clean. I wish it would have had a little fridge in it so we could have put our drinks and the grapes Mike bought me on the way there, in it. But oh well. I guess you get what you pay for. At least we didn't have to pay for it. : ) Joan rented the room for us. We had been planning on coming back Monday night, but ended up staying there overnight. Johnny slept over at his friends house so I didn't have a chance to take some pictures. So we stayed, but had to wait until he got home from school before we could take pictures. And it was 5:30 PM before he got home. Like I said, LONG bus rides. Joan cooked for us a couple times, and oh my .... She is one of the best cooks I have EVER met! Her Spaghetti was great (even if it was a little to spicy for me), and her tacos (with home made guacamole) were to DIE FOR! I was SO mad at myself for only being able to eat one. And the tomatoes she had were from a home garden, and were organically grown. Dang! They were even better than the ones we had in our garden this year!

We had a great time there, and we were very unhappy to have to come back. We were like newly weds again, and had such a great time. And we didn't fight once while we were gone. It was like a lead suit of oppression, stress, and unhappiness was taken off of us when we got there... and on our way back we put the suits back on. And the b!tch suits came back as well. We fought on the way home, but luckily we had about 3 hours and 45 minutes behind us... we were only 15 minutes from home when the fight occurred. I really think it was just because we dreaded coming back to this place so much.

I feel bad that I don't get along with my In Laws... But it is so hard to when they hate you no matter how much you do for them, and how much you "kill them with kindness". Michael is planning on trying to get a second job just so we can save up faster to try to get ourselves a new place to live, whether it be an apartment or a rented house. And then we can be free, and just be a family, with a lot less stress, and a lot more happiness. I understand its hard having extra people in your house, but... *sighs* it doesn't mean you need to treat them like $!ht... And I understand that we will have stresses of our own, but I think that when there isn't just a pall of depression and oppression hanging over us, we will do better (hell, I saw it this last weekend).

Anyways, once I can I will scan in some of the photos that Joan gave me of Larry. And also, if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I will update more in a day or two, I'm just not feeling so well right now.

2 comments:

Lady Raine said...

That's awesome Amber. I am glad it all worked out so well. I bet it's neat to finally find "your" family. The experiences for an adopted child are endless once the find their biological family, even though Joan is only your step-mom. I hope all went well, though it sounds like it did. I am glad you found them. God Speed!

Rev. Michael Daniels said...

Woe really cool. We'll be moving to montello soon maybe we'll see you there.