An Heir-ing Out

It is with almost trepidation that I write about something positive today. The recent trend has been that as soon as I find peace with my life, something else comes along to yank me off track. And, frankly, my psyche is balancing on a thin tightrope these days and, while I appreciate all the life lessons I'm learning out here on the high wire, I'd like to eventually get to the end of it for a little rest before balancing my way back.

Long-time Linguini readers will remember that this time of year brings the high school's annual Academics Banquet and each year we've attended, first with Heir 1 and now with Heir 2. This is the third year Heir 2 is the top ranking male student in his class, for which he receives a savings bond and a hearty handshake.

This year, though, it was the first time we've been out in public since the foreclosure. This is a small town and we knew the word has spread. Heir 2 did try to spare us the discomfort and claimed he didn't want to go. But we had to go out sooner or later and the longer we waited, the more false rumors of devastation would fly.

The result was a study in extremes. There was the "warm hello, squeeze on the shoulder, but we won't bring It up" crowd and then there was the "yes, I know I've known you for decades but foreclosure might be catching so we are going to totally pretend you don't exist" crowd.

Then there was Caisee's mom Carol who risked her standing in the community by actually sitting next to us and pretending nothing whatsoever was wrong with us, when you know we have those foreclosure spores that might have suddenly come spewing out of our ears, infecting everyone within a ten-foot radius.

Anyway, we got it over with and I'm sure our presence relegated our dilemma to a lower status on the gossip ladder.

Meanwhile, the real stars of the evening were

Joe

and Caisee,

who, ironically, are ranked right next to each other. Caisee is sixth and Joe seventh, Caisee being ranked higher than Joe because
she's a girl and because Joe is...well, there's no getting around it... Joe.