Category: Memories

I was in my kitchen today and as I crossed the floor to the mud room something caught my eye. Under my china closet is a box. In this box are various sizes of slippers.

It brought me back to a time, about 4 years ago when this house was alive with children! I had a young teenager named Em who had found me a few years before when she was eleven. She all but lived here. She loved the animals, loved being taught to cook and we had a great relationship.

Every afternoon I’d hear the middle school bus stop out front and a few moments the door would slide open and Em would arrive from school, carrying her book bag. She’d take off her boots, and get her slippers out of the box and get a drink and snack.

The rules were always the same. She had to do her homework, and then we worked making dinner together. During that time, she talked and talked and talked! And I loved it.

There was another young girl, Jacqui who often came with her. She had slippers here as well, and loved the doggies.

Later twin girls moved into our area. They were in kindergarten when they first got here and were tiny. Sarah and Kimmy had been preemies at birth and at 6 years old were still catching up with the height and weight. They also lived under stressful conditions, and often came here with out coats or even boots in the winter.

Yes, they had their slippers and sweaters to wear as well. During that time, with all four girls, the house was alive with laughter, projects and for me, a lot of happiness.

They are all gone now. The two older girls have moved far away. One is in Florida and the other Wyoming. The twins, well I do not know. Suddenly they were gone. I know DYS was watching over them, they may be in foster care.

I wish I lived closer to Savannah so I could do things like I did with the other girls. Maybe someday.

I left the box with the slippers under the china closet. In hopes that maybe someday, some neighborhood girls will find me. I love mentoring kids.

I guess I have always been affected by music. Some people can hear songs and are not affected. Me? I listen to songs, hear the lyrics and feel the rhythm. In 1976 I was singing along with everyone else to the song “Mandy”. And when my first daughter was born, sure enough she got that beautiful name!

In 1978 I was expecting my second child. Back then, no one could tell you what you were having, and either way, I didn’t really care, as long as the baby was healthy.

I went into labor in the early hours of November 8th with Katie arriving only 4 hours after hard labor began.

On the way to the hospital this song was playing. It was very popular back then.

It still is played a lot and every time I hear it, I recall driving from our home in Teaticket, Massachusetts to Falmouth Hospital.

What song was playing when you delivered your baby, or met your husband? What song is your special song?

Back on November 9, 1965, about 5:17 pm, the Great Northeast Blackout occurred here in the USA. This was just before I turned nine years old.

Most people were unaware that lights were flickering and power was failing in areas of upstate New York. A long series of power plant switches were being tripped, and by 5:27 PM, most of New York City went dark. Only Staten Island and part of Brooklyn were unaffected. The power outage spread into Massachusetts, Connecticut and the northern New England states as well as Long Island, New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania.

The blue area shows where the blackout occurred.

My mother always cooked dinner early, as my Dad worked most nights and had to be out he door by 5:30 or 6:00. So as usual, she put out the dinner on the table at 5:15 and then the lights went out.

Having grown up on Cape Cod, we had a large stash of candles. It seemed that we lost our power pretty frequently. High winds. So mom went to the cupboard and brought out the candles.

I remember thinking how fun it was to eat by candle light…again!

The power outage would last for thirteen hours. Through these thirteen hours, a night of almost complete darkness many citizens of the northeastern United States banded together. Considering that nearly a million New Yorkers and Bostonians were trapped during this time, either on subways, office buildings or in elevators, it was a remarkable triumph.

Of course, to a little girl on Cape Cod it meant candles, my sister’s Ghost stories, and probably a slightly earlier bedtime for me.

By the next morning the lights were on, Mom was cooking breakfast in the kitchen and the excitement was over.

Anyone out there remember the Blackout besides me? Or am I the only oldster out here?

My Mom is fading very fast. Saturday I had to say goodbye to her, as I know this is the last time I will see her in this life. I held her hand, kissed her face and brow, and spoke gentle words of love. I reminded her that even if we don’t see each other, we will live on in each others hearts and souls!

Keep a song of joy inside your heart
Even though the time has come for us to part
We’ll be together soon and time will fly
Cause we never really say goodbye

Don’t forget the love we shared today
Sweet memories to keep us warm along the way
I’ll hold you in my heart so don’t you cry
Cause we never really say goodbye

Time may come between us
But it doesn’t mean a thing
You know we’ll be together in our dreams
And so tonight, my friend, sleep tight

And keep a song of joy inside your heart
Even though the time has come for us to part
We’ll be together soon and time will fly
Cause we never really say goodbye,
We never really say goodbye

I had an idea to look for some of the kids that were in The Sound of Music with me. I couldn’t fine them, but, I found the brother of one of the girls. I wrote to him, hoping to be able to send his sister copies of the slides.

He wrote right back to me to let me know that she had passed away a couple of years ago in an automobile accident. But, he would love to see the pictures!

I sat right down and sent them off. You see it dawned on me that if someone contacted me and offered me pictures of Katie, I would be desperate to see them!

I think that’s the hardest thing after you lose a loved one. The pictures stop.

I hope today, that I was able to bring some happiness and peace to her brother.

You see, pictures do bring back all the love in our hearts and the good memories that we have.

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

***************

I’m still working on the scanning, but I have good news! Yesterday I could not find the slides from the community theater’s production of The Sound of Music that both Mel and I were in! I was almost flipping out, but Janet told me to chill, and that she knew they would turn up.

This morning, about the time I had totally given up, I moved a box and there they were! Oh, Mom will be so thrilled to see them!

So I spent all day scanning slides, and working to organize them. Tonight (Sunday) I want to crop, and clean them up.

Here are a few to look at just so you can see how cute Mel and I were back in 1966.

That’s me. The little one on the left. I was the youngest cast member in the play. I played Gretel. I had just started first grade and my Mom helped me learn all my lines by reading them to me and having me memorize them. Songs were easy. In that way, I was like a little parrot!

Here I am singing a solo! I look back and I wonder how I was ever brave enough to sing in front of all of those people! I don’t remember being frightened, it was all a great adventure!

This is me with the woman who played Maria. Jane, (her real name) was a wonderful lady. She was friends with my family and always took time out with us kids. We all loved her!

Here is Melodie playing Louisa. She was in the second cast of kids. In the line at the far left, the young boy was named Timmy. He was my sister’s good friend and mine as well. Shortly after the Sound of Music, Timmy was ice skating at a pond in back of his house, when he fell through. His mother saw him and tried to help, but sadly, they both perished. My sister named her youngest son after him.

Dear Melodie, and Burke (who played Captain Von Trapp)

Well,hope everyone has a good Monday. It’s back to scanning for me!

Mom continues to get worse. I feel like I am under the gun to get this slide show done for her to see when Janet and I go down on Friday.