Saturday, January 31, 2009
Sad time
This is a sad time for my family. My older brother passed away this morning. He was 66 years old and suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema. He will be greatly missed by his wife, daughter, sister, brother and several cousins. He served 20 years in the Navy on submarines, was a devoted husband and father. He was preceded in death by his mother, father and a brother. He had a strong sense of family and was a kind man. He seldom complained about anything and even if things were not going well he would always say "can't complain". He will be greatly missed.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Hot Spoon
"Be kinder than you need to be because everyone everyone you meet is fighting some kind of a battle."
As an adult and new mother I was puzzled that my mother would call me long distance (she lived in another state) and tell me that my baby was malnourished and that I needed to get her to the doctor. My baby was in the 90th percentile for height, weight and motor skills. I took her to every well baby appointment and she was a good eater.
When I related this puzzling conversation to my aunt ( on my dad's side) she paused as if she wanted to tell me something. Finally she told me of the time my mother had severely burnt my mouth with a hot spoon to the point she could not get me to eat. The pediatrician had told my mother I was malnourished and she needed to get some food in me. My aunt went on to say that my mother brought me to her and my older cousins would hold me down so that my aunt could force food into my mouth and make me eat. I do not know how many times this occurred before I started to eat again.
My father and mother both told me how as a toddler I would sit on a friend's lap (dad's army buddy) and eat raw onions with tears running down my cheeks. What a strange thing to feed a baby.
As an adult and new mother I was puzzled that my mother would call me long distance (she lived in another state) and tell me that my baby was malnourished and that I needed to get her to the doctor. My baby was in the 90th percentile for height, weight and motor skills. I took her to every well baby appointment and she was a good eater.
When I related this puzzling conversation to my aunt ( on my dad's side) she paused as if she wanted to tell me something. Finally she told me of the time my mother had severely burnt my mouth with a hot spoon to the point she could not get me to eat. The pediatrician had told my mother I was malnourished and she needed to get some food in me. My aunt went on to say that my mother brought me to her and my older cousins would hold me down so that my aunt could force food into my mouth and make me eat. I do not know how many times this occurred before I started to eat again.
My father and mother both told me how as a toddler I would sit on a friend's lap (dad's army buddy) and eat raw onions with tears running down my cheeks. What a strange thing to feed a baby.
Monday, January 19, 2009
A Cry Silenced
A pessimist would say their glass is half empty, an optimist would say their glass is half full.
I say, my glass is half full, there is room for more, whatcha wait'n for, filler 'er up please. :)
My dad was a soft spoken, kind hearted, gentle man. He was the biggest influence in my life. On occasion when I would do stupid kid stuff, my dad would say to me "you must have been dropped on your head as baby". I always thought this kind of odd but didn't ask what he meant. I lost my dad in 1984, I think of him everyday and miss him.
My mom and dad were married sometime before I was born. One might say I was an unexpected event. My mother was 31 and my dad was 37. We lived in a two room apartment, one was the kitchen and the other larger room served as the bedroom and living room. It was attached to other apartments to form a square. I remember there was a community outhouse in the center of the square of apartments and across the street were buildings referred to as 'cribs', where winos and prostitutes hung out. Down the street at the end of the the apartments was a liquor store and attached to that was a neighborhood grocery.
Later on as an adult a close family friend told me a story about how my mother, when she could not get me to quit crying would throw me against the wall. I was lucky, I didn't suffer any broken bones or brain damage. I asked my older brother about these incidents as there is quite a bit that I don't remember and he said he remembers discussions about my being thrown against the wall.
I say, my glass is half full, there is room for more, whatcha wait'n for, filler 'er up please. :)
My dad was a soft spoken, kind hearted, gentle man. He was the biggest influence in my life. On occasion when I would do stupid kid stuff, my dad would say to me "you must have been dropped on your head as baby". I always thought this kind of odd but didn't ask what he meant. I lost my dad in 1984, I think of him everyday and miss him.
My mom and dad were married sometime before I was born. One might say I was an unexpected event. My mother was 31 and my dad was 37. We lived in a two room apartment, one was the kitchen and the other larger room served as the bedroom and living room. It was attached to other apartments to form a square. I remember there was a community outhouse in the center of the square of apartments and across the street were buildings referred to as 'cribs', where winos and prostitutes hung out. Down the street at the end of the the apartments was a liquor store and attached to that was a neighborhood grocery.
Later on as an adult a close family friend told me a story about how my mother, when she could not get me to quit crying would throw me against the wall. I was lucky, I didn't suffer any broken bones or brain damage. I asked my older brother about these incidents as there is quite a bit that I don't remember and he said he remembers discussions about my being thrown against the wall.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
autobiography request
I have had a request from a reader to write my experience growing up in a orphanage. Since both my father and mother are deceased perhaps this is the time to examine those experiences that have been pushed aside in order to get on with my life. I will need to start at the beginning as this explains the situation of how my younger brother and I were put in the orphanage. Hopefully this adventure will not be boring for the readers as I am not an experienced writer. The posts will be done weekly and will be short. Names of individuals will be changed to protect their identity in the writing.
I believe that yesterday is not something to dwell upon, it is spent, can not be redone, can not be relived and tomorrow isn't here yet and we don't know what it will bring, so no sense in worrying over it; ah, but today, each and everyone of us has within us the ability to choose what kind of day we will have.
I was born on February 20, 1953 to a 31 year old alcoholic mother, the middle child of three children. I had an older brother that was 10, when I was born. I feel extremely fortunate to be alive because between my brother's birth and my birth my mother had another pregnancy in which she decided to have an abortion. This was related to my by my grandfather's second wife, who is the only grandmother I ever knew. So there were three children my older brother, myself and my younger brother who was born in 1956.
I believe that yesterday is not something to dwell upon, it is spent, can not be redone, can not be relived and tomorrow isn't here yet and we don't know what it will bring, so no sense in worrying over it; ah, but today, each and everyone of us has within us the ability to choose what kind of day we will have.
I was born on February 20, 1953 to a 31 year old alcoholic mother, the middle child of three children. I had an older brother that was 10, when I was born. I feel extremely fortunate to be alive because between my brother's birth and my birth my mother had another pregnancy in which she decided to have an abortion. This was related to my by my grandfather's second wife, who is the only grandmother I ever knew. So there were three children my older brother, myself and my younger brother who was born in 1956.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Back from vacation
January is almost half over. I have returned from a two week vacation in Georgia with my daughter, son-in-law and 2 year old granddaughter. She is such a delight. Except for all the passes being closed when I arrived back in Seattle and driving the long way home via Portland traveling wasn't too bad. Getting back into the swing of things after being gone for two weeks is always a challenge. Anyway wanted to let everyone know that Phil's Grill is sponsoring a give away for a cool game 'Grilln'opoly' details can be obtained at http://www.grillingspecialties.blogspot.com. Hope everyone had a fun New Year's.
Army Mom
Army Mom
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