Tag Archives: memories
Not Quite Instant Karma
When I was eleven, I stole an idea. It was 1962, and I was hospitalized briefly for a minor problem. Not being really sick, I was very happy to be in the hospital, where I could get all kinds of attention and sympathy. I was enjoying myself tremendously. The girl in the next bed had …
Eye Of The Beholder
I love Halloween. I loved it when I was a kid, as it was the only time except for Christmas and Easter when I got to dress up. And I loved dressing up. I didn’t outgrow it. I especially loved Halloween as a ‘youngish’ single. I am naturally pretty shy. But on Halloween, I didn’t …
The Smartest Person
My father died this past Christmas. Yesterday was his birthday. He would have been 89. My Dad was a man of great intelligence and corny jokes. As an engineer of precision gauges, he had a PhD mind and a high school diploma. He sang dumb words to old songs. “It had to be stew. Meat …
Sixty Is The New Thirty-Seven
This is my Great-Grandma’s (Meme’s) family. The photo was taken on Meme’s 80th birthday in 1951, the year I was born. There’s a photo somewhere of her in that same chair with me in her arms. But it’s this photo that fascinates me. Standing around Meme are her children. That’s my Grandma on the far …
In My Genes
A quick self-confidence story: A few weeks back, my husband and I were having a philosophical discussion in the car. Conversations in the car are difficult – my husband is slightly deaf, and if you don’t talk right into his face, the hearing aids don’t necessarily pick it up. So car talk is loud. Which …
The Field Trip
In her comment a few days ago, Tess remarked that I must have been a very observant child. Oh yeah. I am hardly ever serious now. But I was a serious kid. I sought logic in an illogical world. Some of my questions were just kid stuff: Why do I have to do Arithmetic homework, …
Orphan Envy
When I was eight, I was in a play. The local Girl’s Club (like the “Y” without the yucky boys) offered afterschool classes, and I signed up for Drama. Good thing they didn’t call it Acting. I suck at Acting but Drama is my life. The drama class put on a play (I think the …
Beyond Clean Underwear – Advice from Mom
My mother’s advice extended far beyond bus-proofing my unmentionables. My mother’s advice was wise, witty, and right. The first advice I remember her offering – (there were lots of “don’t touch that, you don’t know where it’s been; You’ll put an eye out; Your face will stick that way” warnings) – but this was the …
The History Of Lipstick, Chapter One
I wore lipstick on Easter Sunday, 1963. I was twelve. In 1963, twelve was young for lipstick. None of my classmates were allowed. Only the grown-up girls. The eighth graders. But that was the point. I had older sisters. I needed to be a teenager long before I was one. My lipstick was pink. “Pink …
notquiteold 