Page 24 - LIfesOuttakes5
P. 24

     help us.  Still, by the end of the week we only had 12     labels.  I figured, at that rate, Celese would be married     with children of her own before we’d have enough.     But that night, as I took our garbage out to throw it into     the dumpster, I saw something that gave me an idea.     There, right on top, was a soup can.  I found an old step     stool and stood on it while I carefully sorted through     the garbage.  By the time I finished I had 32 more     labels.            When I brought them into our apartment, Donna     mentioned that there were other apartment buildings     that each had a dumpster.  Grabbing my step stool, I     went from one to the next, like a racoon rummaging for     food.  By the end of the night I had collected dozens of     labels.  Each night after that, as soon as I arrived home     from school and work, I went label hunting.            The deadline to have them mailed in was two     weeks before Christmas, and the night before, I sat     down to tally my collection.  I was disappointed to find     that I was 36 labels short.  But, there was one apartment     I never went to.  It was about a quarter mile away, and                                       18
   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29