H is for Helen
(This week’s blog is brought to you courtesy of Andy)
“I’m at the Soquel Community Center, sitting in a semicircle of chairs that’s open toward a petite, fifty-two-year-old woman who looks like my third grade teacher. Except my third grade teacher never ended up on the wrong end of a twelve-gauge, pump-action Mossberg.”
Meet Helen. The group moderator of Undead Anonymous who does her best to make me and the rest of her fellow zombies come to terms with our new existence. Only Helen prefers to use the term “survivors” rather than zombies because she’s fond of euphemisms.
Helen used to counsel other “survivors” in her private practice before she became one herself. Her prior experience with zombies is the main reason she was allowed to head up the local UA chapter.
At every meeting, Helen starts off by writing something inspirational on the chalkboard, something to remind us of the bond we share, of what we have to look forward to, of our humanity:
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
FIND YOUR PURPOSE
HOPE IS NOT A FOUR-LETTER WORD
I WILL NOT CONSUME THE LIVING
While I appreciate what Helen is trying to do, at times she reminds me of Mary Poppins – always cheerful and full of advice that works for characters who live in movies, fairy tales,or the Playboy Mansion. Still, her heart is in the right place and I know she truly cares about us, which is more than I can say for my parents.
Next entry: I is for Investigate (aka Research)
