Friday, January 28, 2005
On this day:

Beer on the grave

I just remembered a Berlin story I wanted to share.

While living in Berlin, we lived across from a cemetery. One day I saw a German women (I assumed this because the German women I saw had hairy armpits, as did she) pouring beer on her husbands grave. I remember thinking her husband must have really liked his beer.

I wondered if my mom would pour scotch on my dad's grave when he died.
-she didn't-

I recall taking a train with my family to E. Berlin. There were soldiers with guns everywhere. They made the Americans wipe their feet on a piece of carpet after getting off of the train. It seemed heavy, dark and mean there.

I was a little bitty girl, but I remember seeing the wall.




posted by ... @ 7:48 PM 0 comments

Thursday, January 27, 2005
On this day:

Ramstein AFB

I began the second grade in Ramstein, and I began to speak some German. Now this is where the black issue came up for me again. I had been in all white schools, and now in my 2nd grade class there was one light skinned black boy in class, and this is kind of sad. He would never say a word. One day the teacher made him leave the class, and went through all kinds of explanations of how we should treat this little boy. By making him leave I thought she was making a no problem into a problem for the rest of the second graders.

As far as I could tell no one had a problem with him, but the teacher. He was later accused, by the teacher of stealing a piece of gum, which he did not, because I knew who did. I will continue this story later today or tomorrow.

First the teacher left the room and said she would not look to see who put the gum back in her desk. no one moved. She came back and turned out the lights and left the room again. (like on kid would not know if the kid sitting beside him got up! yeah right.

Then she did a most horrible thing with no proof. She took the quiet black boy to the office. I did not know if she really thought he took the gum or if she was using him as a ploy to find out who took the gum. I disliked her manipulations in any case. But, I was gaining more understanding of manipulation.

posted by ... @ 12:31 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 23, 2005
On this day:

Berlin

I started the first grade in Berlin when I was five years old. This is where I learned that boys prefer blonds.

My mother had recently cut my hair very short. She said it had to may rats in it.
(I played all of the time and I am sure I never brushed it) I slept with my head under the covers for a year because I thought rats were getting in my hair at night, and making a nest there. I guess I took things very literally.

I had a little boyfriend I played with all the the time. There was a little girl that joined in our friendship, she had beautiful long blonde hair with no rats in it.

He told me that he wanted her to be his girlfriend. I asked him if it was because she had long blonde hair, and he said yes. (kids are often brutally honest)

oh well, we moved to Ramstien AFB in Germany.

posted by ... @ 8:15 AM 0 comments

Friday, January 21, 2005
On this day:

Maine

We were stationed at Topsom AFB, by the time I was three or four, although we never lived on the base. I had my first little boyfriend. He was black, but I didn't know it until someone told me. I didn't understand why the distinction was made in the first place. That is something I learned a few years later.

We rode the bus to pre-school together and lived next door to each other. He even kissed me on the cheek one time. His Dad was one of my Dad's best friends.

I loved the snow, sometimes it would come all the way up to the windows. I would build forts and tunnels, have snowball fights!! I loved it there.

And we moved.

To Berlin

posted by ... @ 8:41 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 18, 2005
On this day:

her story new york

We moved to New York. My Dad put himself and his german shepard in his car and drove to New York. The rest of the family flew, the only reason they got to fly was because I still fragile.

He was working as an engineer again for Western Electric. And back in school.

During my recoup time my dad looked down at his daughter with a cigarette in his mouth and the cherry fell off and stuck to by belly right below my belly button. It must have burned alwhile, because I have a nickle sized scar there to this day. Wondering about imprinting again.

They family lived in New York for four months until my dad was recalled into the service durning the Cuban Crisis. He had served time as a pilot during the Korean War. Then it was down to Texas , and on to Boloxi Mississippi.

posted by ... @ 10:34 AM 0 comments

Monday, January 17, 2005
On this day:

her story

I thought I would talk a bit about myself. This is hard for me to do, so bear with me.

The first day I was brought home from the hospital, my two- year old brother (his name was Drex) smacked me right in the face.

We moved to Ft. Stockton, Texas where my dad was doing some training. He was an engineer at the time, working for either Western Electric or Brown and Root. He worked for both at different times.

While we were in Texas, Drex ate my bellybutton. It had dried and fallen off. He thought it was a rasin! My sister Toni , who was seven, took it out of his mouth.

By the time I was nine months old my family was living in California. My dad was going to medical school there. During this time I had a nine day hospital stay.

My mother had me in the car and noticed that I was having a very difficult time breathing. She took me to the ER where they performed a tracheotomy. My lung had collapsed. I still have a noticeable scar on my throat. They also had to pump up the lung, so there is still a scar on my the right side of my chest.

My mother came to the hospital to find me barely moving and covered in my own sweat. The nurse had not been putting ice in my oxygen tent. My mother went screaming down the hall telling everyone that the hospital was killing her baby. The nurse was fired and I ended up with pneumonia.

On the ninth and final day in the hospital my mother came in and I was sitting up with a nurse's cap on my head. I was smiling and laughing. The doctors told my mother that they didn't know what had saved me, they did not think I was going to make it.

Since learning a little about imprinting I have wondered what sort of impact it had on my little brain.

While I was in the hospital my dad watched an autopsy in school. There was a very large woman with enormous breasts on the table. When they removed her breast it slid into a bucket on the floor, and well, that was when my dad realized he did not have the stomach for medical school.

When her boob hit the bucket, his lunch hit the floor. So, he decided to self-medicate-- got drunk, hit a pole, busted his chin open. And we moved.

posted by ... @ 2:06 PM 0 comments