%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |    My random thoughts and reactions to my everyday life. The voices like a forum. |
| I do not know quite what happened or when , but my hubby and I now qualify for seniors' discounts at some venues. This creates a quandary; in order to save money, but not face, we have to admit to our age. HMMMM..... We definitely do not consider ourselves to be old. In this day and age ,when people as a whole are living longer and healthier lives why are 'young seniors', those in their fifties, like moi, considered 'old'?? It's so true that age is just a perception! "Maturity" is very objective/subjective, and I object! Whew, a few years have skittered by since I composed this biography block. Those "fifties" are in the rear view mirror and they are distant, fond memories. Oh, I do not plan to stop writing any time soon. |
| How would eight year old you have reacted to being quarantined and kept out of school and society for so long? Let's recap. When I was eight, I was in the third grade and loving it. I was and still am the eldest of four. Wait, I must clarify this. At eight, my youngest sister hadn't yet joined us, so I was the eldest of three. I lived an entire town block from the school and my habit was to walk home for lunch every day. My best friend, Nancy lived across the street. My favourite haunts were all within walking or biking distance. Preston still is a small town and I felt safe exploring alone, or with my friends. Not attending school would be inconceivable! I liked homework and projects. I liked the camaraderie and the constant activity and noise. I enjoyed talking and laughing. School was my life! Wait a minute, where would I get books? The nearby library would be closed indefinitely. I'm hyper-ventilating considering that in the here and now. Today, I own a gazillion books, but back then I relied upon borrowing to satisfy my reading habit. No! Would the daily newspaper be delivered? Could I still read the comics? Blech! Mom reads sickly romances, lovey-dovey crap. Cell phones were a distant invention. Our home had one wall-mounted phone in the kitchen. Long distance calls were expensive and considered a treat. The local outdoor pool wouldn't be open yet anyway in late winter. When would it be open? Will summer still arrive? How will I survive the humidity without a visit every day to the pool? Television existed, but in a crude form, no surround sound, no huge screen, no remote control. Our home had one for the shared viewing pleasure of five people. Broadcasting reached it via an antenna from our roof. I'd describe the programming as limited and it ended every evening at 11:00 p.m. No late night binge-watching. There were Saturday morning cartoons though! You mean I could not visit Nancy, or have her visit me? Why not? Oh, I'd struggle with the unfairness of this, the ridiculousness of this. She lives right across the road. She doesn't have cooties, or a deadly virus. Yes, we'd wash our hands more if we had to, but wear a mask? I would stand on the curb and shout at her standing on the opposite curb. We'd tie notes to rocks and throw them at each other. We'd fly paper airplane messages. We'd kick a soccer ball back and forth. We'd ride our bikes up and down the street past each other's homes and wave. Groan! I suppose I'd take notice of my younger brother and sister if I had to, if I felt desperate, if no one else could play. They'd be good for some teasing and arguing. This guaranteed a reaction from Mom. Ack! I'd survive a quarantine, but I would not enjoy it! |
| 5 DAY Andre the Blog Monkey's April Fools Mystery Writing Challenge Blog Prompt for Day 1 - When mystery surrounds an object, that object then becomes a clue. Have you ever discovered a mysterious item, which became a clue to an investigation? Tell us about what you found and where the investigation led to. I found something rummaging around in my mother's jewellery box. A gold locket with fancy letters engraved on it caught my eye. I'd never seen Mom wearing it. Of course, being about ten years old, I carried it to her and asked questions. With a sigh, Mom revealed that the necklace had been a wedding gift from her mother, my Nanny. I traced the curlicue letters with one finger as she explained that that fancy writing had a name, calligraphy. Ooo, a new mouthful of a word. Studying the swirls, I could make out the letters 'CC' and I recognized her monogram, another new word. I knew my mother's name, the name other people used, Carol and my grandparents were The Cherskis, so this made sense to me. I accepted this. A few years later, now a teenager, I reexamined that pretty necklace with a new perspective. The two scrolled letters were not both a 'C.' The second one had an added flair to it rather like a 'G.' Could this be true? Was this an error? Our surname began with a 'B.' Again, I sought my Mom and pointed out this anomaly. This time, perhaps because she realized my 'mature' age, Mom admitted that this other letter was indeed a 'G.' She continued with a shocking revelation. She had never been a Cherski like her younger siblings. Nanny had been married to someone else before Grandpa and he'd been Mom's real father. Mom was a Gilham. This opened the flood gates to more questions. Was her birth father alive? Had she met him? Had I ever met him? Where did he live? Could we see him? Why didn't he visit? Mom answered that yes he was alive and no she'd never met him. He lived in the same province as we did, but it's a huge territory and the road trip involved a sixteen-hour drive. She felt it was too late to ever get to know him and she had her own family now. She also did not wish to offend her step-father. I couldn't comprehend this. I lived with both of my parents, and I loved my father, we were close. How could she not at least be curious? If it were me, I'd waste no time tracking him down and introducing myself. With further discussion, I learned that my grandmother had denied her first husband access to his firstborn. He'd sent letters, cards and gifts throughout my Mom's childhood and they'd been thrown away. Eventually, he'd stopped reaching out. I found this so tragic. Mom just shrugged and continued with her everyday life until one day her mother offered to accompany her to her birthplace and introduce her to her father. This opportunity came out of the blue and Mom jumped at this chance. She actually confessed to me that she felt nervous and excited. Anyway, Mom finally met her father and liked him. She described him as tall like her and easy to talk to. One meeting is all they had after years of separation. He died a few months later of cancer. I suppose this had always bothered me. Mom missed out on so much. She had what-ifs and if-onlys. Fast forward to many years in the future, during which time I'd bestowed three grandchildren upon my mother and I'd developed a thirst for family history. With my computer and internet connection, I established a family tree. My genealogy research caught the attention of a woman living across the country and she contacted me. She turned out to be my Mom's youngest paternal cousin and we kept up a correspondence. She informed me that she had four older siblings and the eldest remembered my Mom as a baby and had always wondered about her. She introduced me to them online and we wrote to each other. The eldest, Bill, would phone me and my Mom to chat. He lived across Canada on the eastern coast at a great distance from his brothers and sisters. Due to physical limitations my Mom could not fly and long car trips were painful. I did arrange for her to meet two of her cousins who lived about a five hour drive from our home. I drove her to this reunion and she chatted for hours with her newfound family. This trip took its toll on her, but she enjoyed it fully. Mom's health deteriorated and this trip was never repeated. The cousins were also seniors with limited funds and physical capacities. After her death, I managed to visit and meet the three remaining cousins. My search had come full circle. The beautiful letter 'G' had led me on a years' long adventure. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
