39 Mott Street: The Case of the Missing Por Por

Let's just start with the fact that she's fine

and that she'll probably never ever leave her apartment

by herself again.

Around 7:30 last night,

Jon's mom called him and said that 

his por por (grandma)

was lost in Chinatown.

She went out to buy some juice,

at 5 p.m.,

but she couldn't find her way home.

Luckily, she knew where she was:

39 Mott Street.

Jon was in the middle of making

us some dinner,

but he quickly turned everything off,

and we drove down to find her.

Jon's dad had called the police 

to try to find her

and help her,

since it sounded like she was paralyzed by anxiety

and it was freezing cold and windy last night,

so she was probably outside and freezing

for who know how long.

Let's just say New York's finest never showed up

to do their jobs and PMS (protect, m?, serve)

though we saw a police car just hanging out a couple of blocks away on Bowery

and another one headed in the wrong direction crossing Canal.

Assholes.

Let's all eye roll together here

and shake our heads.

Okay, so,

we drove by 39 Mott,

but she wasn't there!

She was basically hidden in a really dark corner of the sidewalk

a few stores past.

(Chinatown seems to shut down in that area around 8

on weekdays.)

But then Jon saw her,

and I awkwardly parked on the corner of Mott and Pell.

And he threw her shopping cart in,

and ushered her in.

We were only a few blocks away from

her apartment.

We parked in the lot under her building.

Unfortunately, the lot required you to use the stairs 

to get to the sidewalk level

where the entrance is.

But she did it.

Not one foot meeting the other,

like an 91 year old lady,

but like one foot on each step, climbing.

It snowed a few flakes on our way

to the lobby.

We sat there,

because she was so winded and needed a break.

Jon's mom was there shortly.

Por Por was shivering pretty violently

for about an hour, 

partly in the lobby and partly in her apartment

once we got her there.

We read on the Internet that it's due to

one's body acclimating to a rapid change in temperature.

None of us had eaten,

so Jon and I left to pick up some food.

She seemed MUCH better after she ate.

And she seemed normal by the time we left.

We're so happy she's okay.