MY FAVORITE FEISTY MOM MOMENT

Tammy wrote such a touching story about her grandmother, my mom. She was petite, a mere 5 feet tall, which is taller than I am at 4'9 ( I have shrunk from my 4'11 as I have gotten older. Part of this is due to a curvature of the spine.

It was actually mom's best friend who told my dad that mom was younger than she was, & I guess because she liked my dad stuck to the story. She was always young for her age, & growing up I thought she was 10 years younger. I learned her true age from my Uncle Chris.

Though she was tiny, she was not one to let someone take advantage of her. Now all you young gals do not know just how difficult washing clothes used to be. It was a long time before we ever had a Washing Machine, & I'm not talking about the ones we have now. Our first one was a Maytag with a wringer that you turned a handle & ran the clothes through, being careful not to run your fingers through at the same time. My sister & I were not allowed to touch it since mom was afraid we would just that.

When this incident occured it was during the old washtub & scrub board era. Our mode of drying clothes was on the clothes line outside in the fresh air & they were fastened with clothes pins to the line. I think mom may have had a wringer that she attached to the tub, or she may have rung them by hand, twisting the sheets etc. to get as much water out before she hung them up. I remember seeing her do this.

Clothes lines were stretched between two wooden clothes poles. We were renting this house & I beleive it was the house on Alger Street in Freemont, Ohio.
One of the clothes poles had broken, & really needed to be replaced. Mama had told the Landlord who showed up at the house & proceeded to nail a much too thin piece of wood to the top of the broken pole. I don't remember, but I'm sure mom told him it would not work, but being the tight fisted man he was, insisted it would.

The clothes were washed & hung up to dry above the muddy ground , as it had rained. The inevitable happened, all moms hard work came to naught as the clothes came tumbling down into the mud.

I don't think I have ever seen mom so angry, & with my sister & I clinging to each hand & trying with our short little legs to keep up with our furious mother, we went over to visit the Landlord. Like my daughter said she cried as she gave him a piece of her mind. A very meek Landlord replaced the pole. Of course the damage was done & mom had to rewash all of the clothes again to be hung up once more on a now sturdier clothes line.

I love my dryer, but I can't help but feel a little nostalgic at times when I think of how sweet smelling the clothes were, after hanging outside in the sunshine.

Clothes lines held their own stories. At some, one would see white square cloth diapers, denoting the arrival of a new member of the family. No disposables for my generation. One could almost tell who lived at a house by seeing what was hung out on the washline.

Though those years were difficult, I never heard mama complain. She gave me a wonderful example to follow as to the kind of person a mom should be. She was strict but tried to be fair. I can't really remember her getting that angry at anyone else except that Landlord & he deserved every word of her tongue lashing.

A NOVEL IDEA FOR A MEME

If I were ever brave enough to attempt to write a Novel, it would take place during WW2, & would be a love story about a young couple whose lives were effected by the war. Since I was a teenager during that particular time, it is an era I'm familiar with.
Though I did not have a special someone who was serving during that time,( I was only 14 when it started) Being a romantic by nature, it would not be difficult to imagine the problems that the long separation would cause two people who were very much in love.

Since we did not see the war on a television set as we do now, our knowledge of what was taking place, was derived from Newspapers & News footage we saw as newsreels in a theater. I have learned more about the war after the fact, so to speak, but I did know neighbors who had a son,, a daughter & a nehew all in the Marines.

Our lives at home too, were affected by shortages of certain foods & other items which were rationed, but I think that most everyone I knew were all willing to do without if it meant having the boys come home soon.

I would write about the loneliness two young people who were deeply in love would have felt during the separation. I would describe perhaps what was happening where he was, as well as what was happening at home.

Even though I'm familiar with the time, it would still require a lot of research, & I do not have that wonderful gift that my daughter has, in telling a story. Hm maybe we could make it a joint effort some day.

LIFE MEME

I was hoping to find out how to print this in colored ink but I guess I'll have to wait until someone can show me. So this will have to be in boring black ink.

CHILDHOOD AMBITION I always wanted to be a mommy, but also a Movie Star.

FONDEST MEMORY That's an easy one. My first look at my daughter imediately after she was born & we gazed into each others eyes.

SOUND TRACK Walk The Line for movie, but favorite CD Josh Groban

RETREAT Looking forward to going to Hawaii

WILDEST DREAM Living in Hawaii

PROUDEST MOMEMT I guess since I've lived so long, I can have more than one so I'll say watching my daughter get married, & seeing my two granddaughters for the first time.

BIGGEST CHALLANGE Wanting to live my life in a way that others will see Jesus.

ALARM CLOCK Rarely use one unless I have to go somewhere early. I'm a night person.

PERFECT DAY Being with my family. I'm hoping to move closer to them.

FIRST JOB at age 16 with work permit. WT Grant 5 & Ten Cent store. Don't faint but if I remeber correctly I was paid 35 cents per hour. You could actually buy things for 5 cents in stores like Grants, Newberrys & Woolworths.

INDULGENCE Anything chocolate!!

LAST PURCHASE Does groceries count? I went grocery shopping today

FAVORITE MOVIE Gone With The Wind, but also love the original Yours, Mine, & Ours, Friendly Persuasion, & lots of other old movies.

INSPIRATION My daughter,

BIGGEST REGRET MY husband not being here to walk our daughter down the aisle, & knowing my wonderful son in law & two adorable grandkids

RATHER BE I don't remember what this one was, but guess I could say, all moved & settled somewhere closer to my family

IRRATIONAL FEAR Spiders & Snakes

3 PEOPLE I WOULD INVITE FOR DINNER I too was impressed by the book where Jesus came to dinner. I would love to have dinner with Oprah whom I admire very much, & my mind is blanking here on her name, but Maya I think is her first name. Her poetry is so beautiful, not only what she says, but the way she expresses it. I think her name is Maya Angelo?

THOSE GOOD OLD COMFY BAREFOOT SANDALS

Summertime brought a purchase of a new pair, or the old ones out, if they still fit,of my barefoot sandals. I don't know if that was the actual name of them or just what my Mom called them.

As mentioned before,mom was a city girl born & bred, & she was not very fond of my sister & I going barefoot. I think she thought that lurking beneath each blade of grass, laying in wait for her two precous girls, was a rusty nail, or a sharp piece of glass. ( I actually did cut my foot on a piece of glass one time). I think the rusty nail was a legitimate fear, because of the dread lock jaw, in a era before tetanus shots were available.

Our barefoot sandals had a closed in heel & toe & had a tee strap with two straps across, one fastening across the ankle, & the other across the instep. There were small cutouts in the toe section, alowing for good ventilation.. They were in fact very comforatable to wear, so much so thatI wish that I could find them in adult sizes. I am not a lover of the types of summer footwear available today. I cannot wear those high heeled affairs with the teensy straps holding them on, nor the flats without a back sturdily hugging my heel. I want something comfortable to walk in, sockless to be sure. I want the old styled barefoot sandal in MY size. Once in awhile, I have spotted them in ads for children's shoes, so guess they still make
them, just unfortunately not in my size.

I THINK I CAN, ITHOUGHT I COULD

The love of reading, I believe is past down through the generations. I was delighted when I was at my daughter's last weekend for the Portland adventure, to see her present both 7 year old girlie, & little cherub each with a book she had picked up at a yard sale. Little cherub's book was one my own mother, years before, had either read or told us as a bedtime story, the Little Blue Engine that could. I can still remember my delight as I listened to the story, at hearing the words that the Little Engine said, as he climbed the hill, I think I can, I think I can, then giggleing as I heard mom say very fast, I thought I could, I thought I could, as the Engine came down the hill.

Growing up. I loved to read, Partly I believe because of those bedtime stories. Years before my mom had bought a set of books for my older brother, called My Book House. I still have a tattered worn volumne of the only remaining book of the series. Mom when she could, bought my sister & I books, but since it was during the Depression years, these mostly came at Christmas.

When my daughter came along,I saw an early interest, when at the age of 3, she was asking the names of letters on cereal boxes. I felt fortunate when I was trying to find some sort of a preschool, to discover a Montessori school in the area. At the time I did not know very much about this type of school, & the tuition was high, so I felt blessed when the director said, if I was willing to be a helper, she could enroll tuition free. She seemed to love it from the first day & amazed me by reading by the time she was 4 & 1/2. At first I thought she had memorized the Dr. Seuse books she loved so much, but found that she was actually reading them.

Now I love to hear 7 year old girlie reading so well, & I know that lttle cherub who recognizes all the letters will soon be reading her books herself. I'm glad that my daughter is carrying on the family tradition of bedtime stories every night. Some day Lord willing, their little ones, will be the 5th generation listening to a bedtime story. Who knows, it could be the beloved "Little Blue Engine" story they are listening to.

NOSEBLEED SEATS, GIGGLES AND SCAIRY STREETS

All of these were part of my adventure in the big city of Portland.

I have aleays watched the Winter Olympics for years , especially my favorite event Figure Skating. Through the years there have been favorites that I have cheered for as I have watched them do their dazzeling performances. Mischel Kwan, Sasha Cohen & many others have held me spellbound as I watched. I have always wished that I could be there in person veiwing their performances, so when my daughter Tammy told me that she was thinking of taking my oldest granddaughter to the Champions on Ice show for a belated birthday present & asked if I would like to go, I was really excited about the prospect of seeing so many of them in person performing, I very happily sent her the money for my ticket to be reserved.

I had never been in the huge arena, nor for that matter had she, so we were surprised at the location of our seats in what I jokingly called the nosebleed section. She has already described our daunting climb to where we were to sit.

One disadvantage prooved to be the cold Artic blast of the Air condition which seem especially fridged where we were sitting. I have been fighting a bad Sinus infection for several months, so was a bit susceptable to the cold air. Fortunately I had brought a coat with a hood & I attmpted to cover up my head as much as possible. When during intermission we moved a number of rows down, it didn't seem to be as cold as where we had been sitting. To my delight the people below were not nearly as tiny as they appeared from our top of the world vantage point.

I think what I enjoyed the most was watching my little granddaughter & hearing her giggle each time the performer turned to our section to receive their cheers & claps. Along with the trusty whistle came that delightful giggle when it was our turn to cheer.

The Arena has an excellent veiw of the Ice made possible by it's round design & those seats which seemed to rise up straight from the floor, so I guess that was why they were designed in this strange manner.

More hazardous than the climb to those seats,were the streets in downtown Portland which Tammy has written about in a previous post on her blog. I have never seen such disregard for the safety of pedestrians attempting to cross the street as I witnessed first hand when we tried to cross. One driver, a woman, was comletely stopped in the crosswalk. My daugher was attmpting to get both my self & her daughter safely to the other side & out of the path of the oncoming cars turning right at us. In the process my poor hand that she had ahold of was bent in an shall we say a very uncomfortable position. Not until we had safely reached the other side, did she find out why she was recieving resistance to her helpful tugging as she tried to safely manuver us out of the path of the oncoming cars which were turning the corner coming straight at us. I frankly think she deserves a medal for driving on those downtown streets. To add to the pedestrian problem, the little green man as she refers to the picture representing the walk symbal, only stays on for the brief time before the don't walk sign is flashing. Now to my mind, a person would have to be an Olympic sprinter to make it across in the lenghth of time allowed by the signal

All in all though my adventure into the big city was a wonderful experience in spite of the scairy streets & difficult climb. Watching the skaters glide across the Ice to the the music they had chosen to skate to was indescribably beutiful. They are in perfect unity & harmony with the music as they make their turns & move their arms & legs in perfect rhythem to the songs that are played through the speakers. And of course my favorite part of all was that delightful giggle.