whatever happens i'll be there

i wonder how often the average person hears that, that in the real sense of 'being there' for someone. trouble is often when things go pear-shaped people forget to look for you and simply being there isnt enough you have to intervene. i first typed and then corrected interfere.
the incubus song was just on the radio.
sad days i dont know exactly how to handle the situation at hand. its family and that makes it ultimately different from anything else. at least for me. i think part of that 'family is everything' attitude comes from moving to the states when i was young and we knew no one and god the culture shock.
to go from 1988 dublin (another place from now, no?) to 1988 lexington, kentucky?
i didn't even have a pair of jeans! what kid in america doesn't have a pair of jeans? outside school (uniform) most of my clothes were dresses. often matching with my sister or my cousin. ugh. mam. really.
so i get sent to a public school which is well it was different. it was so strange. like we'd the guards to our house once when we'd been robbed in artane, but id never been around such troublemakers-major deterrant to any misbehavior on my part in ireland was the fact that if i got caught, i wouldnt be sent to the principal's, oh no, id be sent to my mam. and she's scary. also i'll never forget standing in line in the cafeteria (so american where did you normally eat lunch) and in front of me was a . a. . . um black girl.
1988 dublin there were no black people spanish/italian students were exotic. and i touched her hair cause i was a kid and it was different and i didnt get 'it' and all the other baggage that goes with race in america . . .
the girl literally bitched me out and i was again in shock, she was waving her hand and moving her head but it was so aggressive in body language. which i was definitely not used to. the american teachers made my journey easier by proclaiming, this child speaks perfect english as in grammatically. never mind the a-o-i-f-e. so i lost my accent fast, shut up quick, and tried hard to be invisible.
i dont know how i got started on this track or even if it makes any sense, it probably dont. i love so many things about my life, i love that i moved to the us when i was a kid, i love how it opened my eyes, how it has been a constant reminder throughout my life that people are different and assumptions are just that, assumptions.
i'll never mess with someone's hair again.