I'm breaking this down to two different entries. Last week end was my sister's wedding, I wrote everything about last week, just not about wedding day. This is long enough without it so next entry will be about the wedding day.
What a roller coaster ride it has been.
Friday
Court
My father dropped me off at the court at about 8:15. I met up with my Lawyer and coworkers. I was more nervous than anything. Sure I was feeling sad and a bit unsure of how I would react-feel if they ask me about Stephanie but overall, I knew I just have got to get through it and I would be ok.
We all walked up to the 6th floor where we were asked to wait in a hall way. My lawyer told us the DA wanted to talk to us before the trial but only a few people were called to chat with him. I was thrilled that I had brought my MP3 player with headphones because literally we were in the hall way. We sat on a wooden bench and that was it. So there I sat as song after song passed and my coworkers, which isn’t really the proper term as it was the HR director, the head of all residents and the person above her. They all know each other a lot better than I know any of them. So they didn’t make conversation with me, just some “how you feeling?” and “what are your plans for this weekend?” The hours passed, 9…10…11.. …I was finally called about 11:45. I was lead into the court room by my lawyer. He guided me to the witness stand. My nerves were extremely high. I sat down on the witness stand and the judge said “Mr. Alpert. I’m Judge (his name). I want to orient you with the court room. (I was pleasantly shocked) and he described to me where the jury was. Where the lawyers were and not that he needed to, but where he was.
The DA asked me questions about me. Name, where I live, my educational background and my history with this company. He asked me what I do, and the interview I had with the defendant as part of the intake process where I was in a closed little office that measures about 6 by 8.
This was where most of my testimony was focused on as the defendant mentioned to me hearing a voice. Which at the time and still today, not only didn’t bother me but except for a notation at the bottom of the document that I wrote my intake information on, I didn’t make a big deal of it. The guy had schizophrenia. He’s going to hear voices. When the DA was done asking me questions the defense attorney asked me questions. I was warned by my lawyer that the defense attorney may try to confuse me or get me to say things but as long as I keep it to the facts and if there was anything I didn’t understand, just ask to repeat it.
I do got to say, the defense attorney made me feel not just smart but brilliant. After going over my education for him again and some of the trainings, he called me an expert. Lol me? An expert in mental health? He then went back to the intake and his client hearing voices and he tried to get me to say that I thought it was unusual to have a client hear voices. He used all technical, clinical, big vocabulary words which I know but don’t use lol and I just explained to him that no, him having acute psychosis was not rare or alarming.. …lol. The DA had no further questions. So I was lead out of the court room by my lawyer. I had to sit there with a few people who already testified till my lawyer told me I could go. He came over to me at some point to pat my shoulder and told me I did a good job. And I was free to go.
I called my dad and told him I was ready. He said he would be there in about 20 minutes.
*There was some comical relief as far as I took it during my testimony.
There was jackhamoring being done in the building right next to the court house which was right next to the court room I was in so I tried to talk above the noise. That didn’t work. I tried to talk in between the noises, that didn’t work. The judge said “Mr. Alpert, hold on, we’ll take a 10 minute recess and find out when they’ll be done.” When I got up and my lawyer was guiding me, when I got to the front of the judge’s bench, the judge said to me “I am really sorry about this Mr. Alpert, but they are jackhamoring next door. They are taking down a building next door, floor by floor”
World Series tickets
My buddy Zac had called me while I was in court. My dad had my phone since I couldn’t bring it into court. He told me Zac called so I called him back. He was on the phone but when I got to him, he asked me if I was trying for RedSox tickets. I told him that I was in court and didn’t know anything about it. He told me it was phone only and gave me the number. If one of us got them we would let the other know. I tried for a few minutes but after hearing the busy signal a few hundred times I gave up. When I got home I tried again and nothing. I had a great thought…I will pull the “I’m blind” card and call the disability number. I got the busy signal 4 times and on the next try, I got through. I was on hold for about 20 minutes and then…
“Red sox ticket office, how can I help you?”
I asked for visual impaired seating for game 1 of the world series. They were not available. I asked about game 2, not available. I asked about the general disability seating for game one… “how many were you looking for?” 2. Ok, they would be in section …row…seats… at $310. Would you like to purchase them? I somehow calmly said yes please and held it in till I got my confirmation number and hung up. I just remember screeching like a little girl who just got a Barbie she’d been waiting for… then screaming I got them! I got them! And I heard my mom yell from upstairs, got what?! I ran up stairs and my aunt was there too so told them the story and then ran back to my room and called up Josh. I closed my door first and I screamed “I GOT THEM! I FUCKING GOT THEM! I FUCKING GOT THEM! OH MY GOD I CANT BELIEVE THIS I GOT THEM!” I told him the price of the tickets and he was very cool with it. Even offering to get me the money the following day I told him not to worry about it till they actually make the world series then he can get it to me. After hanging up with him I called my twin, without thinking of it, he was at work but he answered anyways. I told him that I’m going to skip the bad news (I didn’t really mean bad news but he knew I meant court) and go to the wicked awesome news. I got tickets to the world series! If they make it, I’ll be at game one. He was pretty excited for me. Considering he was at work lol. He asked who I was going with and how much the ticket cost and a few other things. I then fb messaged a few people who would care and then posted on fb.
Rehearsal dinner
Since the wedding was in Gloucester, Amanda (my sister) thought it would be a pretty cool idea to ask our family friends if we could have the rehearsal dinner at their house in Gloucester. (this is the family we visit-hang out with every 4th of July for the last 31 years) (they have a very very very nice house that overlooks the ocean. They have 3 decks and a Spiro staircase connecting them outside.
So my sister ordered and set up a buffet from this very nice Italian-seafood restaurant. She had salad, chowder and 4 trays of food. One was a chicken Marcella another was chicken broccoli and ziti in a wine sauce and then sausage-peppers-onions and I don’t recall the last dish. My mom made calzones as well and Marryhellen (who’s house it was) made something as well. Then people brought desserts too and Marryhellen also made some desserts as well.
There was about 20 of us coming-going. It was very nice.
Saturday
Computer virus
I woke up and just like I do every morning, I heck my email before I get out of bed. I saw I had a text message from someone with a phone number from my town.
I click on the email and it said I have a voice mail. I thought, oh cool. Someone sent me a voice mail. Maybe it’s an old friend from high school. I click on the attachment and… that’s when everything went wrong. It opened up a website and it said something about virus and to click here to run a virus scanner. It wasn’t the scanner I have or anything I knew so I knew something was wrong and that I must have gotten a virus from that stupid email. I tried to open other programs and it just gave me that same message, saying I have a virus and should click on this virus checker thing. I showed my father and he took me up to Staples to the “geek squad” and the guy looked at it. Said it definitely is a virus. Asked me what virus checker I use. He told me that “well that one obviously doesn’t work.” And sold me this $150 virus checker that as long as I was on line, it would be running-updating itself.
Plus the removal of the virus, it would cost me $300. So, there was nothing I could do but hand my credit card over and sign my name. He said it would be ready in about 2 to 3 days.
Dinner with NJ cousins
My cousin Hayley and her husband Antony were coming down for the wedding. They were staying over the house Saturday night. So when they got to our house I should have been all excited to see them but my body-mind was so worn down, I had no energy to be excited. Then my mom planned on us going to a Chinese restaurant and when Hayley and Antony came, my mom asked what they felt like and they said Italian so then we had to think of a “real” Italian restaurant we could go to on a Saturday night for 6 people. (my uncle Joe was going to meet us) We tried one place and it was a 45-60 minute wait. We went to another place and it was only a 30-45 minute wait. So we waited and it only turned out to be about a 20 minute wait. Not bad at all. Unfortunately (or fortunately lol) it was extremely loud so I had a hard time hearing. I pretty much just sat there and when food came, I ate. I got a pizza.
Sunday
Pre-wedding
Wedding
reception
Post wedding party
Monday
I got woken up by my cousin Jalen hitting me with a pillow to wake up. Not the best of ways to wake up but he is 14 after all. I got up, took a shower and got dressed. My cousin Heidi (Jalen's mom) brought me up a cup of tea. I could not find my glasses anywhere and left the hotel without them. I went home with my father and Jalen.
I got home and didn’t really do much. I still didn’t have my computer. I sat around listening to music and TV.
I visited my Nana for about an hour. She’s 94 years old. She lives in a nursing home. Her memory is not great but it’s ok. I told her how I got the World Series tickets. She was happy for me. She ask if I would let her know if they made it and I said I would. It is sad to see my Nana the way she is but she still has her stubborn personality lol.
We had picked up my computer along the way to my Nana’s so when I got home, I had a zillion of emails and fb messages-notifications.
Wake
The grandmother of a very very close friend of the family passed away so my parents and I went to the wake, said our sorries. Actually, it is the family who for most of my life, went to for Christmas Day dinner. My mom and the mom of the family were best friends, so much so, I call her my aunt and her daughter was the first girl I ever kissed…we were like 6 years old. Aww how cute. At the wake, I got quick hugs from the females and half-hugs from the males of the family except from the … ok, so Jo was the 90 year old lady that passed away. She has two kids, Karen and James. James is married to my aunty Cheryl. Sheryl has two kids, Stacey and Eric. Stacey has two little kids, I think they’re 5 and 3 and Eric has 4 kids, the oldest being 12.
So Karen, who I knew belong to the family but never knew where she fit in the family tree till the funeral the following day, she gave me a hug and it was a long hug, she, it was if she didn’t want to let me go. She even rest her head on my shoulder for a few moments. …must be something in the name. I always thought she was just a little older than me, maybe like 10 years? Who’d thunk she’s probably 25 years older than me lol. It’s that bubbly –perky personality.
Since Jo was from Chelsea MA., that’s where everything was held and ironically enough, my family on my dad’s side (including me for 6 years) is from Chelsea and my dad still works in Chelsea so we knew everyone.
Note: between wearing dress shoes to court , then dancing at the wedding with dress shoes on and having to get dressed up for the wake and the funeral, my blisters had blisters lol owy!
Tuesday
Funeral
The funeral was called for 10AM. My mom and I were late by about 5 minutes but we were far from being the last to show up. The funeral was packed. Melissa (Eric’s wife) and Darin (Stacey’s husband) both did readings. Stacey, (I have no idea how) delivered the eulogy and somehow did it without breaking down even once. (I would have been sobbing through the entire thing) It was nice ceremony. It ran a bit late? People were coming in for the 11AM Mas? (They have Mas all day every day or something? Is this normal? I thought it a bit strange)
We went to the cemetery after. It was a nice ceremony there too. There was some prayers said. I put a flower on the casket
We went back to a hotel where the family was hosting a luncheon. It was very nice. It felt a bit strange and familiar as I was sitting with Eric, Melissa and their family. Stacey, Sheryl and other people came over to say hi to me and make sure I was taken care of. (It was an Italian buffet)
My mom and I stayed for over an hour. It’s funny to me that Eric was so immature as a kid and hasn’t grown up much but yet he owns-runs a very very successful shipping business. And yet, he encourages his kids to do immature things …until his wife stops them all lol.
I could not wait! To get home and take off my shoes and rest my feet for a little while before I had to go to work.
Wednesday I physically got the Red Sox world series game 1 tickets in the mail. who's excited?
I AM I AM!
hmm so that's all for now till I can write about the wedding day. |
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