She Sees Dead People

Just where did the notion come from that when people lose their shiz, little men in white coats will come and take them away? I'm here to tell you that if that were true, I would have for SURE, for sure witnessed it by now! Nope, never seen it. Not even the police took Auntie Kay away that Easter. Ends up she had called them herself!?! After she ate some M&M's she calmed down a bit though. They talked for a while, and one even took notes. Another looked around the yard. I mostly had my eyes on that one, in case he was after my eggs. He was kinda pudgy and I'd seen him swipe some ham after coming out of the bathroom. Things are a little fuzzy after that. I think I might have eaten a little too much of the rum bread pudding all the grown ups had told me not to touch. Anyway, Auntie Kay did have to go away for a little "rest" a few days later. I was assured if she took her lithium vitamins (?) everyday, she'd come home soon. Nobody really wanted to discuss it much more than that. But I did overhear my Dad say Auntie Kay had "lost her marbles"...??

"Ohhhhhhh Nooooooo!", I remember thinking. I TOO had recently lost MY marbles. I thought my brothers stole them! I didn't even know Auntie Kay collected marbles! Oh, this was not good. This was not good at ALL! I searched for my marbles like a squirrel looking for nuts. Cashew nuts.

So anyway, something really weird happens about a week after she gets back home. I saw it with my own eyes on our little black and white T.V. with the tin foil balls on it's "rabbit ears" (?)... There he was. One of the police officers from Easter, on the news, talking about the little girls body they had just found. Dead. Probably for a day, or two (?). Buried. In Orinda. In Orinda where my Auntie lived! In a backyard! In a backyard close to Auntie Kays backyard! Ummmmmm...O.K. WHAT??

And so it went. And needless to say, so did my little crystal swinging, marble losing Auntie Kay...back for many, many a "rest". And then, sure enough, a week or two later, would come the news...