Robert StGenis Voice empowered

I was on the phone with someone at USAA about my insurance and he asked me "how do you like L.A.?" Noting his genuine curiosity, I paused for a moment. I responded "it's a perfect place to have a love/hate relationship with; if you have never been, you should come." I gave an explanation of how it was vast and amazingly different than most anywhere else, but hard to get around, expensive but you at least most often convinced yourself worth it, and usually the weather is amazing. I have lived here most of my adult life, with brief times in the city of Riverside (the Inland Empire a large extension of L.A.) and the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs), a nearby getaway. A friend of mine from Berlin whom I have known some 30 years said to me years ago visiting me that L.A. was "one of the most unique cities in the world." I don't think that it was his first trip to L.A. when he said this to me. He has been back multiple times and repeated it since and he...

My parents had a lot of really nice furniture. My Mother would leave a room empty for as long as 2 years to save for what she really wanted to own. She died with most of those "prized" pieces of furniture that became part of my home in childhood. Such a different era. My Dad had a cabinet in his den that in retrospect I kind of wish I had now. It was a really nice piece of furniture. The top and sides were I want to say dark walnut. The front had a door with a woven raised walnut (assuming I have the right wood) front between a 2-3" black/dark brown crossed pattern on each side. I think there was something hand-carved in the middle as well. It had one of those old locks with a key like from "Colonial" times yet there was nothing colonial about the piece. The television in the den sat on top of that cabinet, one more reason it was a focal point. Around 12, in sixth grade, I became scarily curious about most everything. What is under the TV I wondered?...

Please read:  Someone homeless in your house ,  Tony's first days back... ,  Tony Incognito #1 ,  Tony Incognito #2  prior to this one to follow the story and gain the most insight. Transparency is paramount. Privacy and respect are also important so I travel a fine line. I want to continue to explain our relationship with Tony as it has been a learning experience for us. I believe it's important for others to at least try and comprehend the thousands of Tony's that are left in despair throughout our city and county of Angels, let alone elsewhere in the state and across the country. People most often try to categorize the homeless as a "group" with perceived "problems" that led them to their situation. In reality, our homeless pandemic is caused due to many neglects on our part as a society. We don't have the mental health facilities to house and help those who just can't handle being apart of "everyday life" and thus end up on the s...

I got ahead of myself with posts about communication with Tony after our November trip before telling about what occurred during the trip. The story of our time with Tony begins with  Someone homeless in your house . Continue following with  Tony in WEHO   prior to this entry.  Tony Incognito #1  and  Tony Incognito #2   and any others in the "Tony Incognito" series are best read following this post. After only knowing Tony for weeks and not a perfect track record, we'd given him a chance and let him stay at our place and care for our cats (we have 2) while we were away on a trip to Tennessee and Georgia. Perhaps I have some reservation of being judged. It's easy for many, especially those closest to us, to call us "idiots", "dumb shits" or whatever else. At least, that would be their justifiable first reaction. But most of those same people would have said the same of our helping him in the first place. It was a bit of a gamble, but my attitude...

To really understand most of this blog entry, you really need to read:  Someone homeless in your house ,  Tony's first days back...  and  Tony incognito #1 prior to this entry. Read the messages in reverse, as they are Tony's replies to my messages. Date: Thu 12 Dec 2019 07:41 PM Tony: Seeing how that card was stolen from me I find it highly suspect. ~~~~~~~~~ Robert (me) wrote: As you requested, we opened package. It was the notebook I gave you and your new social security card, thus how they got our address... We had offered in November that Tony could use our address to get a new Social Security card. He gets it and within a month he reports to us that is was stolen. Turns out he left it somewhere in Hollywood. They mailed it back to us along with a notebook (with our business logo and phone number on it) which we gave Tony. Quickly flipping through the notebook, Mac commented "this is Tony's head." We didn't really have any desire to read it...

To get the most of this blog entry, you really need to first read:  Someone homeless in your house ,  Tony's first days back... Read the messages in reverse as they are Tony's replies to my messages. Tony went incognito from the time we returned from our trip last November until right around the beginning of spring. We had some exchanges online in the interim. Below are copied messages with his and my screenames removed along with anything else that would be too personal and not relevant. November 24, 2019 Tony: just gearing up to move to a tribal reservation , when are u free ~~~~~~~~~ (Robert-me) wrote: What is up with you? What has you so busy? When are we going to see you next? Did you get my email? Robert and Mac December 4, 2019 & December 10, 2019 Tony: hi i have no idea what that could be? i have a new.cell tho can u forward me ur number ~~~~~~~~~ (Robert-me) wrote: I sent a text message as well, but not sure if you are receiving them. You receiv...

Like many a household, family dinner on Sunday evenings was a ritual for at least the entire time we lived in Michigan and somewhat so as I ended my teenage years and my parents' marriage came to its overdue inevitable end in New Jersey. It was one family activity my Father felt was important, albeit not all ended well. He traveled constantly, over 180 days a year he boasted at times. He wasn't into his marriage to my Mom, clearly evident from the 3 abortions he paid for with affairs he was having (which I learned just in recent years) and verbal and physical fights I witnessed over the years. He loved Christopher and me growing up as well as he knew how to but he has been quick to admit later in our lives he was never good with young children. That's an understatement as you'll learn reading this blog. Sunday dinners varied over time and, to a large extent, how my Father was doing financially. They were spaghetti and meatballs, pasta with calamari (where my Mother...