ICE, ICE, Baby

I've started filling out (for what seems like the 50 millionth time in the last 72 hours, on seemingly endless forms) emergency contact information for my son at school. One of the hardest parts about being a single mother is filling out those forms...especially when the people you really trust live somewhere else (i.e. other states...my sisters, my parents, my best friend). I've been in Louisiana a long time, but the people I know here are unreliable when it comes to picking up Shorty in case I'm in an accident or delayed at work due to a chemical release that results in a shelter-in-place. The truth is, this is when having a life partner makes things so much simpler...you know exactly whose home, cell, & work numbers to put on the form under the address "SAME". But in this case, I leave the father's information blank (he lives in Cali & is trifling), think of the most reliable and willing person you know (my surrogate Louisiana mother), fill in their information, and hope it's never needed.

As for myself, someone recently sent me information that anyone could use. Speaking of accidents, ICE CONTACT is something that clicked with me before I left for Norway. I emailed (& snail mailed my house key) information to my sister on what to do and critical financial information, if something happened to me while I was in Norway...you know, that country that has about 10 murders a year (as compared to New Orleans that has about 1 a day). I closed the email telling her I'd put it in the mail with, "Hopefully, you'll never need any of this." I surely hope she doesn't.