After playing phone tag with a few people, and driving here and there in an attempt to fetch some things, I have logged the following:
1. Yesterday, 5:34 pm, retrieved Paolo’s Neopet pet from a friend. Resident of house where pet was left behind got my phone message and offered to bring it by, since she was on an errand to our general neighborhood. Paolo’s response upon retrieval of toy was part elated, part flat. Then I remembered that half of his face is paralyzed, which explains the response.
2. Yesterday, 2:20 pm, retrieved Paolo’s yellow zip-up sweatshirt from the new Bahá’í Unity Center where I was dropping off a bottle of glue for the children’s activity. (My other two children were participating but I kept Paolo at home.) The person who dropped off the sweatshirt (whom I had tried to reach by phone the day before) also brought the other things we’d left at her house: Council’s hand-made pow-wow ribbon dress, her calf-length, lace-up leather moccasins, and her head ornament to complete the costume. In his happiness to receive the sweatshirt back, Paolo attempted to wear it, but I stopped him, as it was about 89 degrees and rather humid.
3. Yesterday, 1:09 pm, attempted to retrieve Council’s Neopet pet, from the fluorescent-lit, aqua-green offices of the East Longmeadow branch of Baystate Reference Laboratories, 294 North Main Street. Asked at main desk about small green stuffed animal left behind yesterday. Woman at desk looked at me, not quite listening, and said, “And you need the blood work done today?” Thinking somehow my words must have translated into Klingon by mistake, I repeated my plea for a small green stuffed animal left behind yesterday, and the kindly older lady next to the woman responded to me, “Let me see if someone found it, I think I remember seeing that yesterday.” She asked around and Paolo and I sat down to wait. This was the scene of the crime only the day before where we had to get a second arm poked for a blood draw to test for Lyme. Paolo seemed almost eager to be in the waiting room for this new honorable purpose (toy retrieval). The woman returned empty-handed, saying they don’t have a lost and found, and suggesting that I leave my name and number in case they find it or can ask the janitorial staff. I obliged and thanked her and we left feeling a little useless, but we’d tried.