A Mommy Blog About Raising Men, Not Boys.

Thursday, December 03, 2015

I Bet You Didn't Know

Sometimes I forget that I had my parents for 11 years before Matt came along. I have 11 years of information and knowledge and experiences that didn't include him. Once someone joins your family I think it's hard to realize they weren't always there. But I was thinking last night about all the things that happened when I was singular and how those are memories he doesn't have, and Pete doesn't either. Matt has memories from when I left home, and Pete has memories from when we both were gone I'm sure. But those first 11 years, when my parents were so young, I wish sometimes that they had ever seen them as they were then.

Such as:

  • My father used to run. Hard to believe if you knew him but he did. He refereed High School athletics and usually about two months before he'd start, he'd start running. He'd put on hilarious 70s style running gear and head out. He'd come home and drill calisthenics in the back yard. He'd drop fifty pounds seemingly overnight.When he was in his 20s, even being fat wasn't a deterrent he knew no restrictions - he just did it.
  • My mom belonged to a ladies bridge club and had special card and serving dishes that all coordinated. They would all dress up and mom would set up several card tables when she hosted. She would set up an lovely table of snacks and drinks and it was the most elegant thing I ever saw when I was really little. I had to stay in my room when it was being held at our house, and not bother the ladies. 
  • My parents were addicted to gardening and my mom canned everything in site. When I was really little we even had homemade ketchup (gross btw) and applesauce all the time. We usually didn't have vegetables from the store until it was late winter and we'd eaten up all the stockpile.
  • They laughed all the time and liked each other. 
  • We socialized as a family, we'd go to other people's houses all the time and visit, and they'd visit us. It was very normal to always have a house full of people who were there for a meal or party.
  • Mom had a closet full of very fancy shoes, gloves and hats. She got the shoes out for bridge parties but I never saw her wear the hats. They were amazingly gorgeous and I wish I at least had the hat boxes but I don't know what happened to them. 
  • My parents worked at a store in Nashville IN for a while, together one summer or two, managing it so the owner didn't have to go in. We'd spend all day there, and I had all of Nashville Indiana to run around and play in, it's like it was my playground. The store was called the Apple Tree and the lady who ran it owned a house that was like a mansion, and invited us over there many times to have dinner after they closed the store. 
  • Dad and Mom used to sing to the radio all the time.
  • Dad used to go on all my brownie and girl scout field trips. All of them.
That's a short list of weird things I was thinking about from when they were so young. It's weird to know that Matt and Pete might not know those things or have even ever considered them but that they're part of my hardwired memories.

That's me in 1974, an only child with no idea there would ever be other children.  I'm giving my dad the eye for having just made me ride The Racer at King's Island for the first time. Despite my grumpy face, riding The Racer and  The Beast we me and Dad's thing. 

I guess that's another one, my Dad made me a roller coaster junkie. Mom hated them. He loved them passionately.