Monthly Archives: November 2011

Citizen of Ville Joie, and yet another family…

27 Sunday Nov 2011

Posted by in Excerpts from Citizen of Ville Joie

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , , ,


Please read “About this project and the Author” for more information on my project. Daryl worries about Danielle after a new case worker shows up…

“Not so long after my new case worker’s first visit, he came back to see me again but this time to take me to a new family. No need for the ritual, no time to prepare and no time to say goodbye to my friends.

“Pack up your stuff, I’ve got a family for you.”

The way he presented this to me was just as pale as his face. This was supposed to be a big moment, a celebration not just for me but also for those around me and he couldn’t even do that right.

After much reflexion on my life, I came to understand that the only reason I can remember all those events is because of the emotions they stirred inside of me. Sure there was the trauma of scarring events and there were heartbreaking moments. It’s normal I would remember those, but how can you explain my recollection of so many other details. Emotions are the answer. Every single emotion was just as intense as the event it was born from. I couldn’t remember my last days with the D family because I had stopped feeling. As an orphan, I relied on emotions to engrave their corresponding moments in my memory. There was nobody then to take pictures and there is nobody today to remind me of how things were back then. We’ve all heard of people losing their sight and using other senses to compensate. I lost my family and I had no reference, so I compensated with my memory. I’m pretty sure that’s why I don’t remember more from the B family. I was told about them and taken to them as if it was nothing. This new case worker of mine didn’t understand what I needed. Danielle would have done it differently, that’s for sure.

I find it sad that this part of my childhood is not all that clear because, if my memories are all over the place, they show that I was actually starting to open up. The B’s were a kind, older couple with two daughters, one who was about four years older than me and another who was already a young adult. They also had a son in the army, but I saw him only once. My guess was they wanted another boy and they had a chance to go for it. They had heard about me through their niece Linda, one of the educators at Ville Joie.

Everybody loved Linda in Happy Town because she was so gentle and always smiling. Whenever she came in the building, we could instantly feel the mood change for the better. Linda and Carol were more like older sisters to us but highly protective sisters who cared for us very much. With her help in pushing fate a little, Linda had gone from being an educator, to being like a big sister and then, to becoming my cousin. Not bad for someone who called himself an orphan…”

Do not reproduce or copy the content of this post as it is the sole property of citizenofvillejoie.com
Contact: steve.marchand@rogers.com

Citizen of Ville Joie, Daryl meets a new case worker

22 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Excerpts from Citizen of Ville Joie

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , ,


Please read “About this project and the Author” for more information on my project. Daryl worries about Danielle after a new case worker shows up…

“Very early in the summer, I received a visit from a strange man with red hair and a beige trench coat. Funny how a kid’s mind works because my first thought when I saw the man was, he and I, we should have traded ties. The only tie I owned was ridiculously too long for me and his was equally ridiculous but on the short side.

I don’t remember his name but I know he introduced himself because I can still remember to this day shaking his cold and wettish hand. He told me he was taking over Danielle’s cases for a while and when I asked him where Danielle was, he told me it wasn’t important for now where she was and that we should focus on the future. He seemed uninterested and distant; I guess part of his job was to come and see me, so there he was. I didn’t understand why Danielle wasn’t there and in return he didn’t understand that in my situation, any scenario involving so much as the appearance of abandonment could have quite an effect on me.

Danielle was more than a case worker to me and I was more than a case number to her. Every time she’d come visit, which had become less frequent at that time, we would take walks in the backyard or go to a park together and have long conversations. She wanted to know me well enough so she could find me a family that was a good match. Her goal was not find a family for me so my case could end, she wanted to find a family for me so my life could finally begin. I was in her heart, I was part of her mission.

This man however, saw me as part of his job and nothing more. During this first meeting, he took me to the toy department of a big store and told me I could chose anything, so long as it was under five bucks. When I set my eyes on Slime, the gooey green stuff that came in a garbage can, he rolled his eyes and asked me if I would prefer something more “educational”. Who was that guy? Asking a seven year old if he’d prefer to learn something instead of playing with smelly goo coming out of a small trash can. Plus, I knew the other kids would go insane seeing me come back to the orphanage with a can of Slime in my hands. He agreed and bought it for me but with such an attitude, my only response was a mix of prudish thanks and contained excitement, which in return did little to change his mood or add some much needed color on his pale face. He drove me back in silence to the orphanage and didn’t bother getting out of his car to walk me back in. I stopped on the steps and turned around to watch him drive away hoping I’d never see him again and wishing Danielle would be back as soon as possible. Even if I was just a young child, a trip to a toy department with that man was no match for a walk in a park with Danielle.

Earlier at the store I had asked myself who this guy was. Soon enough I would get my answer. Soon enough I would discover how costly it can be when a case worker does “his job right” instead of doing the right thing.

Danielle, had you been there.

More after these commercials and more Cat Stevens…”

Do not reproduce or copy the content of this post as it is the sole property of citizenofvillejoie.com
Contact: steve.marchand@rogers.com

Citizen of Ville Joie, Escape from the orphanage

13 Sunday Nov 2011

Posted by in Excerpts from Citizen of Ville Joie

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , , , ,


Please read “About this project and the Author” for more information on my project. Daryl escapes from the orphanage with his best friend Allan.

“On a cold day of late winter or very early spring, Allan and I decided we had had enough of this whole orphanage business and we decided to escape. I can’t recall exactly what triggered this firm decision of ours to leave, but damn it, we were determined to leave and no one was going to stand in our way. Since Ville Joie was an orphanage and not an institution where we were committed, we were free to come and go as we pleased, as long as we were reasonable and careful. So just before dinner we put on our coats and our not so warm, kids astronaut winter boots and the rest of our winter clothes and off we went. That was pretty much the whole plan.

Allan and I walked, no paraded, in front of the educators and spoke to one another loud enough for them to hear us say that we had had it with this place and we were leaving, knowing for sure the educators would rush to stop us, and beg us to reconsider. No response. No reaction. I guess all there was left to do was actually leave. We exited through the side door and walked down the driveway leading to the street in front of the orphanage. Once we reached the end of the driveway, we turned around to look at the orphanage one last time and began our escape in the freezing dusk.

About fifteen long, interminable and gut wrenching…steps later, Allan and I realized we hadn’t had dinner yet. We decided it would be best to eat first, this way we would have more strength and could travel a much greater distance with food in our stomachs. We ran back to Ville Joie and, because we were so cold, entered the building through the front door which was much closer than the door we used to leave. We sat down in our seats in the mess hall still fully dressed and still very much determined to leave immediately after our meal. A meal which turned out to be quite good and during which we removed our coats, followed by a sweet dessert we ate while taking off our boots, the whole thing washed down with a rich hot chocolate. At the end of the meal, our whole winter attire was lying on the floor by the table and we never ever mentioned the subject of our escape again…”

Do not reproduce or copy the content of this post as it is the sole property of citizenofvillejoie.com
Contact: steve.marchand@rogers.com

Citizen of Ville Joie, Strangers to kindness

07 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by in Excerpts from Citizen of Ville Joie

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , , , ,


Please read “About this project and the Author” for more information on my project. Kindness, when unexpected…

“Another summer had gone by and it was time to go to back to school. As she had done once before, Denise accompanied me that morning, along with another kid who’s identity escapes me, to make sure we were comfortable with our new surroundings. She walked me to my classroom and helped me to my desk, then told me to sit tight while she walked the other kid to his classroom and said she would be right back. I was suddenly overwhelmed by a moment of fear or panic as Denise walked away. I didn’t know what it was but it took me completely by surprise, and I could barely control it. I felt this powerful urge to cry but I knew I would never live it down if I let myself go. At the time, I actually reminded myself that I already had enough going against me without adding this kind of episode to my resume.

When Denise came back and saw the look on my face, she kneeled next to me and told me to breathe deeply. It took a moment for me to calm down a bit and class was about to begin, so Denise had to leave. I had become more dependent on the orphanage and the educators for emotional stability.

I remained in that state pretty much all morning and after lunch, we were summoned outside the school for the yearly group picture. Being the diminutive that I was, I always ended up in the first row for those pictures and I couldn’t bring myself to smile when the photographer asked us to. Immediately after the first take, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see this tall kid standing behind me. He couldn’t have been more than two years older than me but he was tall and big.

“My name is Marty”, he said.
“I’m Daryl.”
“Daryl, if anybody gives you any trouble, you come to me and I’ll deal with it.”

I never found out what prompted him to tell me this. Was it a teacher who approached him, knowing he was of a kind nature, and told him to look out for me or did he decide on his own that no one was going to pick on me. All I know is, on the second take of the group picture, I had a big smile on my face. Marty was one of the cool kids at our school and word got out pretty fast that anybody messing with me would end up having to answer to him. He remained my protector for the entire time I spent there.

Marty wasn’t the only one looking out for me at that school. Our music teacher was a calm, soft spoken young woman in her late twenties. At the beginning of our first class with her, Laura gave us permission to call her by her first name which was kind of a new thing at the time. With her round glasses, long curly hair and an eclectic sense of fashion, she fit the perfect definition of a hippy. She was kind and patient with all of us but I’m pretty sure teaching wasn’t her first choice. In hindsight, maybe she saw teaching music as a way of anchoring herself to her true passion. She was definitely different than the other teachers and very soon began devoting more of her attention to me, explaining things to me more in details and calling on me more often than on the other kids after asking a question to the whole class. I must admit, I loved the attention she gave me and the peace I felt inside of me in her presence. There are people who’s company alone is enough to make you forget everything else around you, people capable of making time seem to go faster. Giles from the orphanage had that quality and now at school, there was Laura.

Without my knowledge, Laura went to see the director of Ville Joie and asked if it would be possible to take me out every once in a while. She didn’t want to adopt me, she wanted to donate her time and do what she called “simple things” such as take me to a restaurant or to a movie from time to time. The director agreed and about once a week after school, Laura began taking me to shopping malls, restaurants and music stores. She even took me to her place, which was filled with music instruments and where I sat at her feet while she explained where the instruments came from and played them for me before she cooked dinner for both of us.

Of all the things we did together Laura and I, going to the movies was my favorite. We were lucky enough to be shown movies at Ville Joie but they were old movies from the sixties like Planet of the Apes, Blackbeard’s Ghost or The Time Machine. Don’t get me wrong, old movies or not, we still loved it when the educators got the projector out and played them for us. We were kids; as long it meant having a bucket of popcorn on our lap, they could have shown us a documentary on the origins of sand for all we cared.

But one day, one memorable day, Laura treated me to dinner and a movie. I don’t remember where we went for dinner but I do remember the movie. Laura took me to see Luke Skywalker take on the Empire. She told me a couple of days in advance and even showed me the tickets when I told her I couldn’t believe it. The news of my good fortune spread through the orphanage like a brush fire and made the other kids madly envious of me. When the big moment came, when the theater went dark, my mouth opened wide and stayed that way until the credits. Every time something big happened, I would look at Laura and smile in absolute joy. To think Laura had said she wanted to do “simple things” for me and she ended up taking me to a galaxy far, far away…

After the movie, she drove me back to Ville Joie way past my bedtime, so late in fact, the others were already sound asleep and the Cat Stevens reel was already well on its second run.

I went to bed that night with a roof over my head, a full tummy and my mind filled with stars and spaceships. I went to bed that night the luckiest orphan in the world. When I woke up the following morning, the others were all standing silent in my room, waiting for me to finally open my eyes and tell them, leaving out no details, all about Star Wars…”

Do not reproduce or copy the content of this post as it is the sole property of citizenofvillejoie.com
Contact: steve.marchand@rogers.com

An incredibly fulfilling writing project!

03 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by in Excerpts from Citizen of Ville Joie

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,


I want to thank all of those who have visited this site and commented on my posts so far. I am half way through the first draft and I am amazed at what I am discovering as I go along, as a person and as a wanna be writer. I am remembering events and moments of my life as an orphan I had completely forgotten and the memories, good or bad are are flowing through my head at a rate I hadn’t predicted! I’m loving every minute of it!

Although I know there is still an enormous amount of work ahead of me, I am ready to tackle the second half and I can’t wait to share more of my childhood story through Daryl’s words.  I am so anxious to get to the first rewrite of the project. At that time I will be able to go back to my first posts and compare them with their corresponding second versions.

I hope you keep supporting me in this journey and you visit me from time to time.

Please don’t hesitate to comment and rate my posts, I need your input and suggestions…

Citizen of Ville Joie, Daryl says goodbye to the interns (final part of this segment)

01 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Excerpts from Citizen of Ville Joie

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , , ,


Please read “About this project and the Author” for more information on my project. Daryl recalls the interns – Part 4 (Final part of this segment)

“On the last day of their internship, all the interns showed up at the beginning of the afternoon and stayed with us for the rest of the day. It was special to have so many people around but I had a heavy heart the whole day. I spent time in the afternoon playing outside with Pete and Allan. While we were walking back inside, Pete turned to us and said, “You guys are very special, don’t you ever forget it”. We both thanked him and told him we liked him very much.

The mood was getting heavier by the hour and by the end of our last dinner together, not much was being said. The interns had by then realized we had become emotionally attached to them and we knew we would probably never see them again. I guess that, rookies that they were, they had become fond of us too and had forgotten who they were dealing with; a bunch of kids craving for love but not too sure what to with it when it was offered to them.

Just before lights out, they came to see us one at a time to say goodbye as we laid in our bed. All went well until they visited the fourth or fifth kid who started crying, which started a chain reaction of tears in the dormitory. From my room, I could hear the other kids crying and the interns doing their best to comfort them. I was not looking forward to my turn at all and I kept fighting it inside of me. I had to be strong because the last thing I wanted was to end up crying in front of Andrée. It wasn’t easy because as you know now, my room was the last on the way out, so by the time the interns got to me, the dormitory was pretty much flooded with the tears from the other kids. When the first couple of interns came to my room, I was able to hold it together. In the room next to mine however, I heard Pete talking to Allan who was crying uncontrollably. I began to sing in my head so I wouldn’t hear them. A short moment later, Pete opened the curtain of my room and walked in saying a few words to me and extended his hand. I kept the song going in my head, thinking that if I couldn’t hear what he was saying, I wouldn’t lose it. On his lips, I could still read the last few words he said to me. “It was a pleasure to meet you Daryl”. My heart went to my throat as I shook his big hand. He turned away to leave and at the same moment he exited, Andrée entered my room, shutting the curtain closed behind her.

She stood at the foot of my bed, herself looking overwhelmed by the way the other kids had just reacted to saying goodbye. After a few seconds, she asked, “Daryl, are you ok?” I knew if I tried to say as much as one word I would burst into tears. So I just nodded yes and turned on my side, away from her. Andrée took it as a sign I didn’t want to talk to her and stayed only a few more seconds to look at me. When I heard the curtain of my room being closed behind her after she left, it was more than I could handle and I started crying. Andrée heard me and rushed back into my room, sat on the edge of my bed to comfort me and tuck me in real tight one last time. She spoke to me with her sweet and soft voice while resting her hand on my chest and assured me everything would be just fine. After a few, too short minutes, she left again, this time for good. I cried for a longtime and drowned the voice of Cat Stevens with my tears and sobs.

This was the first time I ever cried for a woman. Andrée became a memory that faded over time, and finally disappeared until Cat Stevens brought me back to her. Thanks to him, her beauty remains intact and the sound of her voice, as faint as it has become with distance brought by the years, is still sweet, soft and of great comfort to me…”

Do not reproduce or copy the content of this post as it is the sole property of citizenofvillejoie.com
Contact: steve.marchand@rogers.com