My Sister's talent

This is OG. Now mind you, there are many OGs. In hood parlance, OG is defined as
Old Gangster. It is a term of respect that younger guys give older guys. It must be said that one does not have to be a gangster to have the OG designation.

OG sits outside of San Julian park on 5th/San Julian streets every day. This suit is one of his toned down versions. It is a lime green, modern day version of the Zoot suit.
(Whoa, I think I am ready to start covering the fashion district) OG has a radio attached to the back of his power wheel chair. He generally listens to Jazz from the Bebop era. Sometimes he listens to music from the Improvisation era as well.

It took alot of courage for me to ask him to take his picture. To my delight, he agreed. He is one of the very dignified people you see on Skid Row.
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I will be damned. I saw some people looking at a building on Skid Row. I have been looking at this building as long as I have been on Skid Row. If I had the money to renew my Broker's license I would do it. I have met a few players in the industry. I have established rapport. I just can't afford it. A few days after I landed on Skid Row, the first thing I did was go to the Reagan building and inquired about my license with the resident Deputy Commissioner.
According to him, I should not have a problem. He said as long as it had nothing to do with fraud, I should not have anything to worry about.

That is another reason I wanted that job as an assistant manager. I could afford to get back my license and develop my downtown business on the side.
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Someone asked me why is it that I would want to be closer to my sister. What is there to be gained from it? Good question. It has been suggested to me that my sister means me no good that she even wants to edge me out of my share of inheritance. I have struggled with that from the beginning of all of this. People tell me I need to take a look at the inheritance motive. Perhaps that is true. However, my priority is my mother. It may sound funny but she can keep the money as long as I could spend the rest of my mother's living days with her with her or the government butting in where they are not needed or welcomed. I trust my mother is getting the care that is needed.

I think it is vulgar that discussion about inheritance takes priority over a loved one's life. However, the reality is , is that I need to protect myself in the case of a future conflict.

Secondly, I do not conclude without talking to my sister that she has evil motives. There are times when it would have been easy to do that. There have been times when I have temporarily come to those conclusions. If I were to conclude that without speaking to her, I would be no better than the people that did what they did to me. In fact, I would be worse. I prefer to stay on the high road.

I must get my sister's approval to see my mother. I understand that her powers go that far.
Of course I believe that my sister could be abusing her power just because she does not like me.

Let me say this. My sister, even if she has power, is not free. She is a victim of this as well. She may not realize it but she is. I do not want her to be a victim. She came from a family where we did not tell eachother things. Unfortunately, it developed to the point where that, along with perceptions, bubbled over into a catastophy. bigots in the 50's and 60's, in the south, were victims even though they were free to do things that people of color were not. They were victims because they exercised only what they knew and what they were taught.
They were just as much enslaved as the people they sought to control.

I love my sister. I have always loved my sister. There have been things that she has said to me and has done to me over the years that have hurt me more than she will ever know. However, there is one thing I want to do. I want to learn, explore.

There was this book written by Margaret Meade, "Do I have to give up Me to be Loved by You". It was one of those self help books. In it she talks about progress in relationships. If two people sit down and accuse eachother, no progress is generally made. In fact, invariably, there
are set backs. If two people come to the table to learn and explore the reasons behind the other person's point of view, progress towards understanding and learning have a greater chance of success. I want to have a chance to succeed in getting to know my sister.
She is all that I have after my mom passes. It may not be important to her. She may not want to get to know her older brother. Time will tell.

Let me say this. My sister is a very educated, very beautiful woman. She is an amazing artist with incredible talent. I have always been proud of her. I do not confuse issues. She may be short sighted or misguided in her decisions and behaviors but the reasons could be ascertained through substantive and open dialogue.

I will tell you something else. My sister lived downtown in the old bank district in the 80's.
I was proud of her pioneering spirit. She knows the area well. If the legal papers are correct that I recently saw, she lives not too far from me.

It would be incredible if she and I could patch up our differences. We could actually be an amazing team. She has incredible taste. She is studying to be an interior designer. I know real estate extremely well. It would be nice to team up and see if an interior design business can be developed. However, I am realistic.
I can handle the marketing end and she could handle the design end. I tell you, my sister is extremely talented. I have known that since she was little. I just do not say that because she is my sister. She thinks I have a talent with people. My father and friends have always said that about me. Believe me, she did not say that because I am her brother.

Well, at least, that is a start. We could go from there. It is up to her. I thought we almost had a chance to buy and redo houses a couple of years ago but all of this happened. but if anything is worth having, it is worth fighting for. My sister is worth having. She is worth fighting for.

Good Afternoon world. I love you.