Different/Same

As you know I have four children. It has always amazed me how much alike they are. Yet they are so different at the same time.

It began at birth. The first was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. It broke my heart and at the same time I loved him so much. After a couple of hours his features settled and he was beautiful. I was glad I had loved him from the beginning.

My second son was perfect. He had a pretty round face, pink cheeks, and blond hair. He looked like a cherub or Cupid.

When I had my third baby the umbilical was wrapped loosely around his neck. He was the prettiest lavender color for a few minutes. While we were still in the hospital he developed a little brownish spot on one eye. As I watched in fascination it got larger while we were there. By the time we went home he had green eyes.

My daughter was as red as a beet when she was born. Her head was covered with little dark curls. The most interesting thing was her legs. She had legs like a girl. Not baby legs... girl legs! My mother said, "What did you expect?"

All of them inherited their father's quick temper. Some manage it better than others but they all have it. Then they also hold a grudge like me. It is a terrible combination.

They all use what we call the family finger. When angry they pull out a pointer finger and shake it at the person they are mad at. The first time I saw it my mother-in-law was mad at my father-in-law. I was horrified.  

My second son is not particularly interested in music. The rest are. KISS is a favorite but my third son is just short of being obsessed. My oldest likes Queen the best. My daughter likes Bon Jovi.

I could go on but I will tell you one last way they were alike. I once told them I knew it was hard to have a mother like me. (I have not completely grown up.)

I was told, " Not really. We thought all mothers were like that."

Kids!

I always wanted children of my own. At the same time I have never felt the need ro be the "great earth mother" to other people's children.

Of course children need to be supervised and to be cared for. And there are some who are so beautiful and some are so cute. 

My daughter-in-law adores all children. She is the first to run and grab a new baby. She gravitates toward any child. 

My son and daughter-in-law had my two grandchildren who were 2 and 3 years old. My daughter-in-law also took care of her cousin's two children. The little girl was in kindergarten and the little boy was still a toddler and disabled. 

One afternoon my son called me to say that he needed to rush his wife to the hospital. Could I come take care of the kids until they got back?

I rushed over to their house. There I was with four beautiful very small children. We were fine.

My daughter-in-law had an emergency appendectomy. My son told me he would talk to the cousin about her children.

I told him I would take care of all four children while his wife was in the hospital. They were a young family and needed the extra money.

The most difficult part was getting all four up, fed, and dressed to take the girl to school.

The little girl was a very pretty child. And she knew it. Nothing wrong with that. But she had learned that her looks helped her do whatever she wanted with no consequences. 

We butted heads because I expect children to mind me. We developed a truce. If she misbehaved she quietly accepted that she would have to sit quietly for the time of atonement. 

Then came the day that she decided to bully the other three incessantly. I would no sooner let her off the couch than she would pick on one of the others. Back to the couch.

When she went over to pick at her brother who was sleeping I snapped. I ran towards her fully intending to kill her.

She saw me and knew what was in my mind. She screamed and ran. 

She managed to evade me until my murderous rage abated. Then she climbed onto the couch and sat there quietly until my son came home.

She jumped up and ran to hug him. She had not done that before.

I am sure she meant to tattle on me. It did not work. I always told my son what had happened during the day. He thought it was funny. He should have been there. He would not have laughed.

My daughter-in-law came home from the hospital a few days later. I stayed for a few more days to help her. The little girl behaved better and my daughter-in-law was amazed.

Death Of A Rabbit

 This is a re-post. I wrote it a few years ago and it is true... every single word. 

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My daughter and I took her children for a walk. My grandson was 6 or 7 and my granddaughter was 4 or 5. We walked through their neighborhood looking at flowers and watching for animals and birds.

As we usually did, when we returned to their house we made a tour of the back yard. In the spring we watched as the flowers came up through the soil then grew and bloomed. We smelled all the smells and tried to identify where they came from.

On this day it was autumn. The leaves were falling from the trees at a record pace. The flower beds and the grass were covered with fallen leaves. Sometimes we would startle a rabbit back there but we did not see any that day.

Until my grandson went, "Oooooh" in a sympathetic tone. My daughter and I realized at the same time that he was starting to reach for an animal. We both yelled at him to stop. He looked at us, startled.

We quickly went over to him. There lying in a flower bed was a dead rabbit.

We explained to him that whether the animal was sick or dead we did not know what was causing the problem. You cannot just touch any animal you do not know because it could cause injury or illness to you. He seemed to understand.

My daughter did not want to leave it lying there. I told her to go get a shovel and we would dispose of it. She was worried about my grandson being upset. I told her that was why we always held a funeral for animals when she was growing up. It is a way to say goodbye and it showed the finality of the animal being gone.

My grandson loved the idea of a funeral. He went and found an old shoebox. When we asked where we should bury the rabbit he chose a spot under the bushes right in front of the house. He wanted to conduct the ceremony so we let him.

We dug a hole and my grandson placed the box containing the rabbit carefully into the hole. We covered the box with dirt and tamped it gently down. Then my grandson started to speak.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to say goodbye to our friend, the rabbit." I stood in total shock. He had never been to a funeral so I could not understand where these words were coming from. My daughter and I looked at each other in amazed amusement.

He continued with his little tribute about how we did not know the bunny but we felt bad that he was dead. Then he knelt to say a prayer. I started to choke a bit with laughter. He looked like such a little angel with his hands pressed together looking toward the sky imploring that this little bunny rabbit be taken to a better place. Finally there was an "Amen".

My daughter and I started to go inside. I was actually halfway up the steps. Then my grandson stood at attention and put his hand to his forehead in a salute. His other hand formed into a loose fist and was placed at his mouth. Through that hand we heard, "Phtt, phtt, Phhhhhttt...". He was playing Taps!

I was choking trying to keep from opening my mouth and laughing out loud. Tears were running down my face. I did not dare look at my daughter because I knew I would not be able to contain myself. So I stood there not able to breathe with tears all over my face, turning red.

At the end of Taps, my grandson sweetly said a soft goodbye. "Goodbye, little bunny rabbit." It was over.

I jerked myself into the house so I could breathe and laugh without hurting his feelings. When my daughter came in shortly after she was laughing almost as hard as I was while berating me for leaving her out there all alone.

Bugs Bunny was the culprit. My grandson had seen a Bugs Bunny cartoon in which a funeral was held. He had practically memorized the whole thing. Thanks a lot, Bugs!

You've Got Mail

 When my children were small there was not often any mail for them. I remembered wishing for mail when I was a child.

As a teenager I wrote letters. I sent them to family members and I had pen pals. Remember pen pals?

Pen pals were people you did not know but had regular correspondence with. Some might be from another country or a different part of your own country.

Letters were regularly sent and received. I loved getting mail from the box and seeing my name on it. I liked feeling important enough to receive mail.

When I had small children of my own I wanted them to feel that way too. By that time junk mail was an everyday thing. I discovered a way for the children to get mail too.

Junk mail was given to whichever child was nearest. If there were enough of the mails each child would have some. They felt special even if they were only being asked to purchase a cemetery plot.

These days most of my correspondence is on the computer. Email is faster than mailing a letter to a loved one. Most of my 'pen pals' are bloggers.

Of course I still receive some bills and notifications in the mail. Most of those are handled online too. 

My son and I share a mail box at the post office. Here in our small town there is no postal delivery. We have to pick it up at the post office.

My son gets most of the mail now. And he gleefully chuckles as he hands me the junk mail from the day.

Cowboys

  When I was a child westerns were what we watched when we got home from school and all summer. Cartoons were only available Saturday mornings. 

Of course I had some favorites. The Cisco Kid was special. He and Pancho righted all the wrongs they encountered. At the end of each show they had a little conversation that ended with "Oh Pancho Oh Cisco". Then they rode off to the next adventure.

Hopalong Cassidy was another. He and his horse Topper took care of many bad guys.

Roy Rogers was a favorite of most of us kids. Dale Evans and Pat Brady were sidekicks. Did you know that Dale Evans wrote the theme song Happy Trails one day as they were on the way to film the show? She was a talented author and song writer. Pat Brady was known for his Jeep Nellybelle and provided comical behavior for the show. He also a singer in The Sons Of The Pioneers which was co-founded by - you guessed it - Roy Rogers. Roy Rogers was well-known as a horseman too. You will never see anything more beautiful than Roy Rogers riding Trigger at full gallop.

Gabby Hayes was the ultimate sidekick. He mostly appeared in western movies so whenever he was in a television cowboy show it was a real treat. He even had his own TV show for a time. He did not star in any of the features but he played the host of the series.

I vaguely remember Wild Bill Hickock but I do remember his sidekick Jingles. His real name was Andy Devine and he had a strange voice and usually was reluctant to enter an adventure that might be dangerous. He later had his own children's show on television called Andy's Gang sponsored by Buster Brown Shoes. It had Midnight the Cat and Froggy the Gremlin.

Annie Oakley was a female western star which was almost unheard of then. She could ride and shoot with the best of the men.

The Lone Ranger will end my list. It is the story of a man who rode with his brother and other Texas Rangers into an ambush. All were killed except for him. He was found half dead by a young Indian who nursed him back to health. Tonto remembers that the ranger had befriended him when his village was wiped out. When the ranger recovered from his injuries he and Tonto travel the Southwest helping people who are the victims of outlaws. He is called the Lone Ranger because he was the lone ranger to survive.

As a side note the Lone Ranger's brother left a son named Dan who spent a lot of time with his Lone Ranger uncle. Dan became a father to Britt Reid. Britt Reid was the Green Lantern.

Hi-Yo Silver.

Bag Of Popcorn.

We were living in a small town in Nebraska. I consider it my hometown because we lived there for almost four years.

One of the attractions in this town was that we had a theater. Every Friday a new movie was shown.

If I remember correctly the price of admission for adults was 50 cents. Children had to pay 25 cents. Almost all of the movies were suitable for children to see.

I was 11 years old and working as a pinsetter at the bowling alley. I made good money for a child. (I also paid my taxes and Social Security which was deducted from my check.)

Anyway my little sister (7 years old) and I wanted to go see The Blob. We were told no because it was too scary for us. I had my own money so we pleaded until Mom finally gave in.

She was right. We escaped in the middle of the movie. We went to the bowling alley and had my uncle walk us home.

There was no big snack bar. There was a woman from town who made the popcorn. She had her own big popcorn machine.

She scooped the freshly popped corn into small paper bags. They cost 5 cents. A paper bag large enought for a school lunch was 25 cents. It was the family size.

I miss those days. Especially the prices.

In The Beginning

 I am a baby boomer. After World War ll, there was a huge increase in new babies. The servicemen coming home from the war married and started their families. 

My father was in the navy. His younger brother was dating a nice girl who had a sister who was not attached. A blind date was arranged and my parents met. Soon after, they married and a whole 10 months later, they had a beautiful baby girl.

My daddy had always wanted a daughter. When he came home from overseas, he had a kimono for his wife-to-be and one for his little girl. He wasted no time getting both of us. I have always felt very special because I was the little girl my daddy wanted. I wore that kimono until I could no longer fit into it. 

I have 4 brothers and two sisters. It was great being part of a large family. We never had much money but there was a lot of love.

My mom was the most intelligent person I have ever known. She was a quiet, nurturing woman. Daddy could make or fix anything. He loved being a family man and we all adored him.

Daddy was always looking for something better so we moved a lot as I grew up. I went to 9 different schools before I graduated from high school. 

He still kept moving until they moved to Detroit. I think he finally found his home. He loved it there.

Mom just packed and moved to where-ever. She never liked Detroit and as soon as she could after Daddy was gone, she moved to warmer weather. She was living in Kentucky with my sister when she died.

Now you know how I came to be here.

By the way my aunt and uncle broke up and eventually married other people