Snowball

A dearly beloved family member. We got her when she was just a puppy. I remember standing in my crib watching her on the floor, my father standing near her! She was with us for 15 years! She went on our family trips with us! She never had a chew toy (there was no such thing) because she had us to "hang" with. She was our sibling and our protector! If we were in the car with her no one could come near the car! Anyone approaching the door of our house was warned by her vicious barking that she was ready to "defend" and "protect"!  All the kids on our block loved her and befriended her! She got along with all of our other pets! She was confident of her place in our family! Oh, and yes, she never ate "dog food" she ate what we did! She lived to be 15 years old and until the end was in perfect health! She is missed and mourned!

Swaddled

I was at the dentist and had to have x-rays taken. They put a protectioive shield over my chest. I was very heavy and pressed down on my chest. I suddenly felt secure and safe. I remembered being swaddled and having this same feeling! I love sleeping under a ton of blankets so that I am weighed down by them, dafe and sound, thugs too is a result of being swaddled!

The Eye in the Knothole

There is a terrifying memory that I have from my early childhood. We were living in Gerritsen Beach Barack houses. These were wooden structures with a long row of apartments two stories high fronted by a walkway (porch like) with a guard rail with the stairs on the outside at eith end of this porch like walkway. I was probably about six years old and allowed to roar a little freely in the front yard and backyard. I remember there was a small wooden shed separate from the main buildings. Probably was a tool shed very small. It had one wooden plank that had a knothole. The knothole was at a height that I could look into it. I was curious about what was inside the shed. I put my eye to the knothole and peered in. I got the shock of my life as there was an eye (greenish) looking back at me! I jumped away terrified. I never told anyone and I never forgot that experience!

Oh Those Blue Eyes!

My family would make two pilgrimages a year. A two week trip to Miami, Florida in the winter (usually over X-Mass and New Year's holiday) where we would visit my mother's eldest brother, Paul. Then in the summer for two months to Toledo, Ohio to visit numerous relatives. My mother was one of 9 siblings. Six sisters and three brothers. Each of these times were majical. All summer long I got to run in the grass without shoes. In the winter going from the cold and snow into the warmth and going swimming at the beach! One year we were in Miami visiting Uncle Paul and his wife Roseana and their famiy. I looked at my Aunt Roseana as if for the first time. I was struck by the incredible color of her eyes. They were the bluest eyes I had ever seen, except for one other whose eyes were as blue, Uncle Clyde in Toledo. I spoke up and said, "Aunt Roseanna looks like Uncle Clyde. All the adults laughted. It seems that Uncle Clyde and Aunt Roseana were brother and sister and they had married a brother and sister! Confused? I am!

All From Happiness!

When my son was about a year old I read an interesting story in either Time Magazine or The New Yorker. It was about a professional football player who decided to follow his todler around and mimic his actions. He said at the end of about 20 minutes he was exhausted.  I thought it was a great idea, and decided to mimic my son's actions! I crawled when he did, I rolled on my back and kicked my legs in the air, as he did. After about 20 minutes I had a sense of elation! I realized that all his actions were from happiness! And my copying his actions made me happy! That my physical movements had an effect on my mood!

The Butter Cutter Story!

Ah the 'butter cutter". The story goes like this.  My granddaughter had a friend over and I served them toast with the butter on the side. They each had a little silver butter dish with their own butter knife.  The friend asked what was all this.  She had never seen a butter dish or a butter knife. I explained what it was and told her it was because "we live in a very fancy house"! Days later it occurred to me that maybe my granddaughter might not realize all the "special" kitchen gadgets we have that other people don't know about.  Thus the "butter cutter" (which I use weekly to slice our "stick" of butter into individual pats)! The next time I used it I asked her if she knew what it was.  She said it was a cheese slicer (close but no cigar [any body know where that phrase comes from? ]). We do have a cheese slicer so I got it out and showed her the difference.  Explaining that we have a lot of unusual kitchen gadgets (because we live in a very "fancy" house)!

Restoration

A week after 9/11 it was time to go back to work. I worked on Wall Street only a few blocks away from Ground Zero. I was apprehensive about going back. I was also afraid of anyone who looked foreign. When I boarded the train in Brooklyn it was extremely crowded. I stood holding on to a pole, looking at everyone around me fearfully. I had been riding this train since I was 16. This was not the same trIn from my childhood! The train made a sudden jolt and I went flying. At that moment six pairs of arms of various colors reached out for me and prevented me from tumbling to the floor. It made a postive impression on me that the very people I was looking at fearfully saved me. It restored my faith in my fellow man.