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March 14, 2008 |
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Send Money
FOUND by Doug Leigh
in Long Beach, California
My girlfriend and I found this on the way to lunch one afternoon.
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Apocalypse Suburbia May 07, 2007 |
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Yeewww! February 25, 2008 |
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We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework,
to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles -
anything that gives a glimpse into someone
else's life. Anything goes...
I think this note must be from a child whose parents are divorced. Things are tough for a single mom and her kids. I wonder if Dad is helping out at all or if he is the reason they are so short on money? Child support issues? But the kid's love is definitely showing :)
That flower looks dangerous
I wonder where he/she wants to go back? Is it a place or a time?
It's a game; pretend poor kid note to pretend father. Mine always went like this:
Dear Daddy Mole,
We are poor and hungry because of food rations. Please send money.
Love Baby and Mommy Mole.
Don't games always take place during a war where food is rationed and letters censored?
this is either really cute or really sad...
This is the saddest letter that I've read in a long while.
I know exactly how this child feels, except I'm eighteen years old.
I kind of got the vibe this is from a kid in summer camp or something and she needed more money for the trading post.
maybe he/she wants to go back to a time when they didn't have money worries. Though I don't know why someone so young (obvious by the handwriting) would have to worry about money OR how they would know that their parents were worried about money.
This sounds like a mother trying to guilt-trip her baby's daddy into sending her money and i'm guessing he's a deadbeat.
sad stuff.
I agree Catherine - I think it looks like it is wearing boxing gloves.
My first thought was that the kid was at summer camp (probably with a sibling). Licorice doesn't just grow on trees, you know.
Oh, yeah, Mom's definitely tired of chasing and begging this deadbeat for his child support check. Her use of the kid as a pawn is deplorable.
"Mommy, I'm bored. What can I do?"
"How about writing your daddy a letter,,,?"
And that "...I want to go back" veiled threat to his shared custody is equally dispicable.
What a bitch.
awww.. it's sad. But i hope its just a kid at fat camp who doesn't have money for chocolate.
This find makes me sad.
My first thought was, "heartbreaking" because I immediately thought the child was a product of a broken home... And knew mom was having trouble making ends meet so turned to dad for help. Even young kids know when something like that is going on.
But I think I'd rather believe it is a kid writing home from camp.
Funny how we can all have such varying first instincts about the same thing and how our own personal experiences and knowledge kind of draw you to that first reaction.
lmao dangerous flower
Mom needs to contact Child Support Enforcement instead of getting the kid to write a note.
To "know your resources" - The Division of Child Support Enforcement is useless. Deadbeat dads hide behind their girlfriends and families and get away with not working or often get paid under the table. Mom probably does know her resources, they just don't work. And it is doubtful that mom put the child up to this. Kids are smart. They pick up on things.
How sad. I remember feeling like this, mom was working 2 shifts as a manager just to keep her head above water. But we lived with my dad more, so he didn't have to pay childsupport.
how incredibly sad.
Teehee! That flower is killing me!
the fact that this was discarded and found makes this plea even more depressing.
2 possible conclusions:
I think that if it was a child writing to a mother or father in the middle of a divorce, I believe that the parent put them up to it. Why? Well, first off, this was not my first conclusion. I agree with ELEE...kids pick up on a lot of stuff. However, when I took a close look at the letter you can see very faintly written in another person's handwriting..."because" as if the parent was helping the child with spelling and had to spell out the word themselves to check and see if it looked right.
It could be a kid at summer camp who is miserable. Another kid could have volunteered to help them write out the letter...maybe a bully who wanted the money for themselves.
why does the magnify option actually make this smaller?
I think i can see that 'because', winston. But they still spelled it wrong. lol
and is the kids name Damaris?
I don't get a serious vibe out of this note. I mean they could need money, but if the situation were dire, I doubt the note would be so cheerful with the little flower, and heart and I love you scrawled across the bottom. More than likely Mommy told little Damaris that he couldn't have McDonald's for dinner that night because it was too expensive. Damaris gets his nose slightly out of joint and writes a note to Daddy asking for money and/or if he can come stay with Daddy for awhile because he knows that Daddy always takes him out to eat on the weekends he stays there because Daddy doesn't like to cook.
Wow... saddness. :-( These are the kids I see every damn day.
What kid signs a note with "Baby" before his or her name?
Tori, "Damaris" is a girl's name (though in these days, who knows?) You can find it in the Bible.
At first I too thought "how sad" but then...would a child sign themselves "Baby Damaris"?? Kids like to be seen as older than they are; "Your baby, Damaris," maybe. I don't know.
I *hope* it wasn't a real plea. I really do. Because "I want to go back" could mean "I want to go to your house" (because dad's better off than the single mom) or "I want to go back to the way things were" (before the split).
This find didn't make my day. Too much thinking going on. The body of a local 5 yr old that had disappeared about a month ago has turned up in the sea. Apparently as near as they can tell she died within 24 hrs of her disappearance.
Pablo Casals was right. We must make the world worthy of its children.
Been there, I know you're writing from your own experience, but I wouldn't discourage people from contacting CSE. It's the first step in getting a court order. With that court order you can code the IRS, the ESC, banking records and make it impossible for him to own anything. You can find out who he works for and report them for failing to report wages. If his money is in his girlfriend's account she'll leave him eventually anyway. That's why I say know your resources. You might not get much money but you can help him fuck up his (or her) life. All it takes is a few minutes of spare time once in a while.
@Baby Basil
I didn't know that. Even if I did it's hard to tell these days anyhow. Names have become so androgynous anymore.
That is sad about that 5 yo, I have two 6 year olds (which is probably why I came to the conclusion I did about this find) so it horrifies me think of someone being capable of doing that to a child that young.
That flower needs some love... and perhaps some parallel lines.
I think that flower is dressed a little too sexy. It's just asking for it.
Whoa.. go away for a few days and come back to a profile option and links to previous comments. Too much thinking for this time of morning. Maybe later.
Anyway, I don't think this is a pretend note. My parents got a divorce when I was a kid. During the time they were divorced I wanted to "go back" -- to the former life of all of us in the same family. They remarried each other a year later, and my little sister and I were in the wedding. They are still married, and it's been over 60 years. They don't count the year of their divorce..
Anyway, I think this find is sad. Why does love gotta hurt? Especially children. I'm with Heinous and Baby Basil.. this note could have been written by kids I see every day, and we need to make the world worthy of our children (so they will grow up to make it worthy of theirs).
I haven't read any of the posts, so I don't know if this has been said yet. Signing in is a pain in the ass and so was registering so I'll just sign in black. No offense, but it sounds like Damaris is black. I don't know many white kids by that name, but know a few from working at the Boy and Girls Club that are black with that name. However, this note is sad whether the kid is black or white. If there is feedback on this post, I'm just saying what you all are thinking, but didn't want to sound politically incorrect (racist).
It is a little-known fact that "Baby Damaris" is a family nickname for George W. Bush. The President recently wrote this letter to his father, George H.W. Bush, on behalf of the nation.
Obviously, this letter never made it to its destination, and the explanation is surprisingly simple (not unlike the man himself). Mr. Bush had two pieces of mail to send that day, and he accidentally mixed up which letter was supposed to go in which envelope.
The address on this letter landed it in the bin with lots of other letters which, year after year, end up in recycling centers and trash containers (which explains why it was found fluttering down the street, or whatever).
Meanwhile, on a brisk November day in Kennebunkport, former President Bush was pleased (though not surprised) to find in his mailbox an envelope addressed to him, containing a letter written in crayon on Oval Office stationery, opening with that age-old yuletide greeting, "Dear Santa,"
Norma Jean, your post is both stupid and presumptuous. First of all, how is the color of this kid relevant in any way? Even if you knew for sure, why would you bring it up? Secondly, what the fuck makes you think you have any idea what anyone else here is thinking?
IMO, Tori's got it right. Mom denied Baby Damaris something because "it costs too much." BD takes this to the next level - dang we're broke! - and writes a plea to daddy.
Move along folks, nothing to see here.
My first thought was mom manipulating dad with a plea for child support, but I think the summer camp theory has legs. I'm choosing that one because it doesn't make me as sad. And it explains "I want to go back" better. It's not helping me at all with my decision about sending my own kids to camp this summer!
I want to make a joke about this, but I think I'm just too emotionally exhausted today... The news this morning has actually managed to make me cry: A first in a very long time.
Anyway, the minute I saw this Find, a Tracy Chapman song started going through my head.
Sorry if it's maudlin, but it's the first thing I thought of.
If you knew that you would die today
If you saw the face of God and love
Would you change?
If you knew that love can't break your heart
When you're down so low you cannot fall
Would you change would you change?
How bad how good does it need to get?
How many losses how much regret?
What chain reaction
What cause and effect
Makes you turn around
Makes you try to explain
Makes you forgive and forget
Makes you change
If you knew that you could be alone
Knowing right and being wrong
Would you change?
If you knew that you would find a truth
That brings a pain that can't be soothed
Would you change?
Are you so upright you can't be bent
if it comes to blows
Are you so sure you won't be crawling
If not for the good why risk falling
If everything you think you know
Makes your life unbearable
Would you change?
If you'd broken every rule and vow
And hard times come to bring you down
Would you change?
If you knew that you would die today
If you saw the face of God and love
Would you change?
I'm glad my parents never sent me to summer camp. Can't kids get a few months without every second of their lives being regimented and scheduled these days? My god.
Whoa...Frederick and anyone else against summer camps...Summer camp was one of the best experiences I had growing up. You learn a lot of good social skills at camp away from the parents. I learned that not everyone has the same opinion as my parents and that I didn't need to share in their opinions as well. Summer camps may not be as memorable for the rest of ya'll but I enjoyed my time there alot!!!
Alice, hugs. There's so much bad news every day. Take care of yourself, love those who love you back, and take stock of all that's good in your life.
Norma Jean - i always take offence, when someone starts a sentence with 'no offence, but...'. Why does the colour of the child make any difference? Broke is broke. neglected is neglected. Dads are dads and moms are moms. bad printing is bad printing. Stupidity is stupidity.
Wait... Winston? Did you go to Farm and Wilderness?
Two things...
The name Damaris: I have a client shares that name (Norma Jean, she's white).
I see this as a girl who wants to go live with her dad again. I get some weird underlying "my moms a druggy" feeling to this. Hmmm
(Or maybe I am just expecting that because I hear a lot of that in my line of work.)
Actually no...I went to a Nazarene Camp (and I'm not Nazarene by the way). Farm and Wilderness Camp sounds fun though. Our church had youth camp as well and I went to that later on.
I lived in a city nestled among a mountain range so the camps were somewhat near but even though I lived in the Mountains I didn't get to enjoy them all that much unless I was at summer camp and then we did all kinds of stuff. We weren't stuck to a schedule as much either.
Mona Lisa: I totally agree! The printing looks like most 3rd graders I know.
Winston, I liked camp too. There were times when I hated being there, but overall it was fun. I can still smell the arts & crafts room, the lake water, campfires, the gunpowder from the rifle range, etc. It's also where I first saw a truly explicit nudie magazine.
Dan, I didn't go to Farm & Wilderness, but my sister did. Vermont, I think?
Thanks for the heartbreak so early in the day, Found.
My kids LOVED camp. We sent them to a YMCA camp that had horses. They actually asked to go back. I got a camp vibe from this note immediately. Ran out of canteen money. And I agree that the spikey flower with the wings could be dangerous. Leaves of three, let it be, I always say.
i used to find notes just like this all the time when i worked at the Welfare Dept. i guess kids hated sitting in there waiting around and hoped that some money from their dad would prevent it from happening again. lots of notes about kids missing their dads and wanting to go live with them - grass is always greener type thing, probably. i always felt bad when i found one b/c that meant that the intended party (dad OR mom) never got to see it.
Mona, if you'll notice this sentence. However, this note is sad whether the kid is black or white. You are a fucking idiot. Hypocrite shit stirrer.
Wow that printed that without my handle, too bad. Mona's an asshole.
I went to church camp, that's were I smoked my first joint.
Norma Jean you crack me up...hypocrite shit stirrer...sounds like an exclusive club or something.
Hey Mona I want to join your hypocrite shit stirrer club!
At first I thought, "Aw, so sad." But then I saw the flower and thought, "That flower looks like it has boobs." And suddenly I wasn't so sad anymore. Flower boobs make everything better.
Norma Jean, just tell us, why is it important to speculate on the color of this child's skin? I'm with Mona on this one.
I still think it's pretend. Nobody signs themselves 'Baby'. Do they??
I hope her daddy picks her and baby Damaris up gives them bone crushing hug.
This note is making me actually cry.
And feel for her momma, too. She has made a decision to leave, but it's probably breaking her heart because every little kid loves their daddy.
@Winston, in the words of the wisest commenter on Found:
"Everyone: just ignore the troll. Our reactions are the air they breathe."
wait.
Norma J, why are you calling Mona an ass(w)hole? That's ridiculous.
And John, the kids who sign Baby before their names are the ones who are hoping it'll get them more money. Who's your baby? I"M your baby!!
Having worked in social work too, I always come back to this- why make babies if you're not gonna stick around and take care of them... at least financially, if nothing else. A simple concept, yeah, and I know it's not always that "simple".
Then again, I've seen a lot of parents play their kids against the other. Badmouthing, for one, or only "providing" the stupidest, most unnecessary shit-- diamonds instead of school supplies (yep, seen it, even saw a baby "grill" one time- no joke), expensive clothes that will be outgrown by tomorrow instead of food... It's just manipulation, a way to look like the better parent instead of actually trying to be a better parent. And parenting doesn't have to be a freaking competition!!
Arg!
I hope B.D. turns out okay.
I think there are two kids, Baby and Damaris. Baby wrote the note to Daddy because Mom packed them up and moved to another state to
A) pursue her dream job, B) evade the law, and/or C) take up parasailing. Things aren't working out as well as she thought they would and Baby is aware of how bad it's getting. Baby figures maybe if she tells Daddy, he can send them some money so they can eat something besides ramen noodles. Even better, if she tells him that she and Damaris want to go back to where they used to live, maybe he will come and get them!
Norma Jean, you are amazing! You slammed the registration process, the Found Site, and then decided to wade into the useless and pointless mire of race and political correctness all in one useless post.
In the process, you have managed to make southerners, women, and anyone associated with the Boys and Girls Club cringe in embarrassment.
Then, 'cause you're a winner, you decide to post again.
Even though you can't get your own display name right, you do manage to use obscenities to insult someone you don't know and have never met because they disagreed with you. Way to go.
In fact, how about you find another way to go that is far away from here? Can you manage that?
Alice, hugs to you hon. Time for a good cry and maybe a good book to escape reality? Ride it out, it always gets better eventually.
There are two kids, I agree with Stalker on that. But they aren't Baby and Damaris; Baby must *be* Damaris, I being the writer, of course: 'Baby Damaris and I want to go back.'
I'm sorry to encourage Norma Jean. I agree with Mona by all accounts...what does race have to do with the find?
I'm really exausted so the ridiculousness in her need to call others names (not to mention that there is no basis for which call them) still has me chuckling.
i agree with suspended and stalker ~ gotta be 2 kids. older siblings often refer to younger ones as "baby xyz" .
only taking up space cuz i want to see my name in cool maroon.
I'M the hypocrite shit stirrer???? ME??? I'll admit to a lot of things. I'm judgenmental, sometimes i'm even an asswhole, and I'm trying not to be a grammar nazi (tho sometimes it's really difficult for me)and i can be a shit disturber... one thing i will NOT cop to is being a hypocrite. I am offended, Norma Jean. Not that it would matter to you.
What if "I" is the note writer? Which would make Baby Damaris the little sister of "I." I get the "mom put me up to this" vibe out of this note. And the flower, heart and copious I love you's are the kid's attempt at softening the blow of asking for money. But I agree with everyone who said this one has a sad vibe.
Maybe the kid's staying with relatives for the summer, perhaps with an additional sibling or two, and their spending money is running short. Gram and Gramps might be stingy on splurging at the ice cream stand and toy store.
I agree with the past few comments--"Baby Damaris" is not the writer, but the writer's younger sibling. This explains what many people were saying about a kid never referring to themselves as "baby." But if you had a younger sibling named Damaris, it is not unlikely that you would call them that.
I don't know why, but I really don't get the summer camp vibe from that at all.
I don't know if I think the mom made the kid write it though, because she wouldn't have wanted them to say they wanted to go back to living with him, would she? Then child support would be on her. But I don't see a kid addressing a letter and mailing it...but maybe it was never mailed, maybe the kid lost it..
My 5-year-old daughter went through a phase where she signed everything "Baby" and made us call her that. But thankfully it was short-lived. But, yes, there are kids out there who call themselves Baby. Unless mine is just really weird...which, having me as a mother, is not surpising.
OMG WE CAN REGISTER!!!!!!!!!!! Sooo excited! :)
To Tired in bed: kids are very intuitive to their surroundings and not as naive as we think. When mom or dad is worrying about money, skimping on buying things, or clipping coupons they catch on pretty quickly- I know I did.
It is a very sad letter anyway you look at it. If the kid did write it on their own, or forced by the mom to sway their dad's conscience.
Aww... Baby Damaris!
I'll give you money. Just be sure not to grow up & neglect your family. Stop the cycle. Please!
John in the south, Mona, Winston, we analyze the finds on here everyday. So, is it wrong to analyze the skin color of the writer of the note? No, cause that's what we do, dirt bags. I have no prejudice what so ever. It is what it is. A little black kid (probably) writing for his dad to pay more child support and no it's probably not an older sibling writing for his younger sibling. Have you every watched the sitcom Bernie Mac? He calls the little one baby girl.
You are a judgmental, pretentious hypocrite. Does it get any worse than that?
It must be really uncomfortable to be as stupid as you Pepper. Or are you too stupid to realize that you are?
Yeah, a judgenmental, hypocrite who's a TROLL. That's worse.
I've never denied being a troll, impostor, cyperbully, shit stirrer, asshole you name it. I am whats I am.
urp. Scuzme.
Admitting it doesn't make it ok, Pepper.
I hear ya mona.
LOL! Farmer in the Dell, way to break it up!
Tried to register, but something went wacky, and I don't want to figure it out just now.
Norma Jean - I don't analyze, or try to guess, the skin color of the writer. So, when you say, "That's what we do", you're wrong. It's what YOU do, apparently. Go for it! I do think it can be a bit racist, but you're not me. I don't care if you're racist or not. It's not like you're coming to my house for dinner or anything.
One of my best friends is named Damaris, and she is white.
I think the kid overheard the mom complaining to a friend - if only their Daddy would give us money, we'd be OK - so she took it upon herself to help that along.
So please stop it already, Pepper.
I no longer know quite what to think....
I'm just now hoping it's a home sick kid (male/female, white/black, gay/straight, it doesn't matter!) wanting to come home from camp...
My daughter has a 12 year old friend named Damaris and she is white. She goes by Demi. I was a single mom for several years and was quite poor while my ex husband was quite rich. I could see one of my daughters writing a note like this behind my back and giving it to him on one of their weekends with him. And a girl would write Baby if their Daddy had called them Baby. "Hey Baby!"
i noticed the flower boobs too. they're kinda oddly shaped, though.
I like Flargy's explanation about the letter mix-up. That's funny!
That flower looks exactly like the flowers that my husband stuck in with the blooming daffodils. He kept saying, "Have you noticed the flowers blooming?" I thought he meant the daffodils. Finally I looked out there and it was rather scary. They look like aliens, with their pointy petals, all blue and red and orange. I thought they were some kind of unusual bulbs he had planted without telling me. But they are made of glass, and he bought them at Cash King Liquidators. They are really pretty cool, actually.
When I was teenager, I knew a girl names Damaris (pronounced dah-mah-rreese), she was Mexican.
I've never heard the name Damaris in my life!
Me neither, Nightingale!
Face it. The black race is in a state of disaster like no other. If historys true we always have been. Stop trying to sugar coat it and attack people who are being honest. doing that just makes things worse. You white people make me sick acying like you are our defenders. you know nothing about it.
You can't get help until you admit you are messed up. Like an alcoholic. We are messed up and as we've seen on the news this week with Obamas preacher we are masters at messing up things for ourselves even worse.
I can't figure out how to create a profile. I swear i saw a link to it this morning...
No fair!
..oh there it is.. je suis stupide..
how do i activate my account? there's no email message yet.
must be i'm in.. but my name is still black
??
is it working?
is it working now?
Success Clover! I knew you'd figure it out! Yay!
Yeah, yay!
"you white people" I just love that line.
Just so you know, Marcus, it's actually the human race that's in a state of disrepair at this point in human history. Really. It's not a Black and White issue.
pepper/norma pfffft.
Damaris daddy's in the slammer.
I think this is a child writing a letter to his/her parents.
The name, however, sounds Greek to me.
Acts 17:34 is where you can find Damaris. And yes, it's a greek name. I can't remember what it means. She doesn't rate an entry in my modern Bible dictionary but anyone with a Cruden's Complete Concordance could tell you.
Nope, nothing in my Brewer's Dictionary of Names between Damaraland (Namibia) and Damart (thermal underwear).
Nor in my Lowther Clarke Bible Commentary.
The Acts quote (NEB) is 'and also a woman named Damaris, with others besides', which doesn't exactly give her much of a profile.
I only know one Damaris and she is definitely a she (and white).
Honestly Holly, my first thought was that it was Greek, but being the shit stirrer I am I had to write that. I also knew it had a biblical reference, but didn't know which book it came from, being that I'm a lapsed Baptist. (recovering)
OK, so, here's the thing. So like I totally just looked up the name "Damaris" on the Web, and--you're not gonna believe this, but, like, it's totally true! The name "Damaris" is, like Greek? And it's a corruption of "Damalis" which means "heifer"! (SQUEAL!) See! I told you you'd never believe it!
So, like, I think it's a nice sound and all, but--heifer? For your own child? It's soooo not complementary! Really.
(I'm sorry. I've had a visitor here today who, like, really, really misses the 80s.)
Oh Pepper, you made me drop a PMS bomb for nothing? Whatever, blowing up at Norma Jean probably kept my kids alive on Friday afternoon.
Marcus, you should consider anger management therapy. And while you're at it, try some drugs for schizophrenia. The world is not out to get you, and most of the world doesn't even care what you do or don't do or think.
If it makes you feel better you can even have a black psychiatrist. Oprah can probably refer you to some good ones.
Oh wow...Norma or Pepper or whoever you are:
I didn't get black vibe at all. I got a picture of curly sue in my head when I read the letter.
Marcus: I don't think you represent your race very well at all. I'm friends with quite a lot of different races and they would kick your arse for half the stuff you put down.
I bet you anything you like that angry Marcus is Marcus Brigstock of BBC Radio 4's "Now" Show. Known for shooting his mouth off about things he knows nothing of, and thinking he's so funny. He's probably on here trawling (or do I mean trolling?) for material. The kind of person who thinks "angry young man" equals "funny." And so on and so forth and so white...
The trolls are out, and thirsty for blood... Pepper, I get what you are doing, and I respect that, but you should see where everyone else is coming from... I can see that you like to be shortsighted and controversial, but your name calling is getting completely ridiculous... Mona is the least hypocrative poster on here... Chill out... You and everyone else here...