Tuesday, February 23, 2010

More than you ever imagined

I decided to list some things about myself that very few people, if any, know. This may be a challenge for me but I figure it's good exercise for my memory muscle. Here goes....

1) I still remember the layout of the house I lived in when I was 3.

2) In that same house, I remember tasting spinach for the first time. I hated it but pretended it was making me strong like Popeye to avoid eating any more. My parents were not impressed.

3) When I was 3 or 4, we attended a real country church. I got a fan to fan myself while sitting during the sermon. I pretended to read the words in the hymn books and would sing along with everyone else. Except that I sang the story of Little Red Riding Hood....loudly!

4) We moved to NJ when I was 4. The first winter we were there, it was really hard financially. A neighbor gave us countless eggplants. I have never eaten eggplant since that time.

5) I was a sneaky kid but not adept at covering my steps yet. When I found some scissors and cut the letter "R"in the cat's fur, I was surprised my parents figured out it was me!

6) I adored my grandmother but only got to see her once a year. When I was in 5th grade, she lived with us for a year. After she left, I kept a pillow of hers because it smelled like her. I took that pillow to camp in high school and the girls there filled it with rocks as a joke. They never understood why I cried so hard.

7) I always thought I must've been mixed up at the hospital with some other kid. I used to dream what my 'real' family was like.

8) I have loved the ocean from the first time I saw it. Playing in the sand was like icing on the cake.

9) I hated being the youngest in my class. I lied about my birthday so I could be 'older'.

10) Behind our church was a concord grape orchard (more like a single fence). When the grapes were ripe, we'd sneak out of church and eat grapes until we couldn't eat any more.

11) When I was 12, I read 2 books by Beverly Cleary, "Jean and Johnny" and "Fifteen" over and over and over.

12) I also loved "Harriet the Spy".

13) I liked a boy named David in 4th grade. My mother told me I couldn't marry him because he was Jewish. I told my mother I'd marry anyone I wanted!

14) In 6th grade, the principal stopped our class in the hall and announced that I'd scored highest on the school's aptitude tests. Instead of feeling proud, I was mortified and embarrassed.

14) I had a crush on my 3rd grade teacher. He was a brand new teacher and I was sure he'd wait for me until I grew up.

15) When I was 12, I thought Native Americans were the most beautiful people I'd ever seen. I told my mother I wanted to marry an Indian one day.

16) My mother told me I couldn't marry an Indian because we'd have mixed race children.

17) I told my mother that we'd just adopt a white baby and an Indian baby and that would solve the problem!

18) My mother told me she could never love an adopted grandchild. I decided right then it was HER problem, not mine!

19) Most of my life I have felt like I didn't fit in. It took me to my 40's to feel comfortable with myself.

20) I've never expected to succeed. Making the field hockey varsity team in high school was a shock.

21) In high school, I ate lunch with a guy who carried his Bible and called himself a Jesus Freak. I was always in awe of him.

22) The first pop song I learned all the words to was Smokey Robinson's "Tears of a Clown".

23) The first album I ever owned was Carole King's "Tapestry".

24) At the end of my first year of college, Kevin drove from NJ to Iowa to pick me up. (we were both 18) I sneaked him into my dorm room so he could sleep before we loaded up to drive back.

25) In high school, I loved Advanced Biology. I secretly wanted to be a Genetic Counselor but never knew how to pursue it.

26) Kevin and I got our first waterbed in 1977 and still sleep on a waterbed!

27) When I turned 40, I got my eyeliner tattooed on and have never regretted it!

So, did you learn anything new?

Thursday, February 11, 2010

A story with a happy ending


Once upon a time, there was a 15 year old teenager named Jaime. Jaime grew up in a house full of pets but she really wanted her very own cat.

The summer Jaime was 15, she was gone for a couple months touring with Young Continentals. While she was gone, her mother found a sweet, friendly stray cat. This cat followed Jaime's mother home and she decided to keep the cat for Jaime. Since it was going to be Jaime's cat, the sweet friendly cat was called JC. When Jaime returned home, she was very happy to have her own cat.




JC was spayed and declawed and was a very content inside cat. The vet said JC was a little younger than 1 year old. She had a few odd quirks.

JC loved to jump up onto the counters. Actually, she loved to jump onto anything taller than her. And while she explored the counters, she developed the habit of tipping over cups. Every cup she would find, she would knock it over. Eventually, she trained all of us to put our cups in the sink or empty them before we set them down.

JC also loved to lie on top of things. She really liked lying on bakery boxes. She slept on top of Kylene's birthday cake and Christy's graduation cake. If there was a box, JC was on it or in it.



And JC loved people. If she couldn't sit on your lap, she'd sit on your shoulders!



Now teenage Jaime started growing up. She met Slade and wanted to get married. Slade was not a cat person. Jaime had to find a new home for JC. Her friends, the Holcomb's, took JC in.

A few years went by and the Holcomb's called Jaime's parents. They couldn't keep JC anymore and would Jaime's parents like to take JC back? So JC went back to her original family and settled in to enjoy her old age.

A couple more years went by and JC decided she wanted to explore the great outdoors. She figured out how to go through the dog door and figured out how to wiggle out of her collar. She made friends with another cat in the house, Tux. Tux got sick and had to be put to sleep. Did JC sense something that day? We'll never know. JC went out the dog door and didn't come back.

JC's family called the Shelter, Animal Control, put an ad in the paper, but to no avail. JC was never found and her family finally figured she'd been hit by a car since the house was only a short way from a busy street. The family got a new cat who settled in to enjoy being pampered and spoiled.

3 years later, Jaime's mom was driving up the street and happened to see a neighbor walking into his house and the cat at his feet looked exactly like JC! JC was a very distinct calico and Jaime's mom recognized JC right away. She backed up and asked the neighbor about the cat. "Did you find this cat?" The neighbor said that the cat showed up at their house 3 years ago and they took her in!!! Jaime's mom called the cat and JC walked right up to her! Jaime's mom was excited and amazed! The neighbors were very gracious and apologized for not checking with the neighbors before they took her in. JC had only been 2 doors away for 3 years!!

Jaime was 15 the summer of 1995. JC was born in the early spring of 1995.
That makes JC 14 years old!!! JC is now at Jaime's parents' house, warm and snug and getting used to being home. She is happily napping with Ally. She answers to her name and will be slowly introduced to the other animals who joined the family after JC disappeared.

So, after 3 years of being presumed dead, JC is home and will live the rest of her life in warmth, comfort and love.



The end.

About Me

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Longview, Texas
In the autumn of my life, I am very content.

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