too close to home

i recently reported to the criminal court of san francisco for a jury summons.

i entered the huge courtroom, watched a video with the other prospective jurors, then proceeded to fill out the paperwork that indicating that i take care of my children two days a week, so please don't put me on a jury.

the guy next to me, a retiree, filled out the lengthy questionnaire given to those who weren't seeking to be excused.

i forget what prompted me to do it, but i asked him what the case was about.

he showed me the front page of the questionnaire where i read about the case of linda woo, who asphyxiated her three-year-old daughter and attempted to do in her four-year-old son and herself at the same time. the boy lived but is brain damaged.

it gets even crazier for me. this story was hauntingly familiar. a friend of mine told me about this happening to a family at her co-op preschool. which is now our co-op preschool.

coincidence?

the next day was my work day at laurel hill. i hadn't been able to sleep well, thinking about how linda woo borrowed a subaru outback (my current ride), told her kids she was taking them camping, and then shut them in the wagon with her, a suicide note, and a lit hibachi.

i told our director anne about my summons and the crime being prosecuted. before i could even get the word "asphyxiated" out, she pulled me into her office and broke down. yes, it was true. linda, her husband and kids were once one of us.

just another family at a preschool in san francisco.