A Glimpse Into My Past

Still in search of "dad's nipple," I attempted to get information from his most recent doctor ... Dr. Tietze (yes, it's pronounced teats!), but the information is too old to retrieve. About dad's doctor's name, this really is a strange mix of coincidence ... my mother's maiden name was Titman, my father had a mastectomy, and his doctor's name was Teitze ... now, I have breast cancer! Hmmmm!

I got a "how are you doing call" from my sister last night. It's always great to hear from her...we laugh together! We ended up talking about memories of our past ... why are some things so difficult to delve into? Why do they make me sad? Perhaps it was the dysfunction of the family or just the thought of how quickly time goes by. Talking with her about it is sometimes better than therapy.

Memories of things that seemed to normal at the time are bizarre in present light. Our parents didn't buy their first house until I was 12, so during the "rental times" we could not have dogs or cats ... but, we had a bird! Buddy Boy -- a little green parakeet.

It's very difficult to walk parakeets, and they're really not too adept to learning "tricks." We, of course, figured we could teach him to talk. I think we taught him to say his name...but mostly he just spit a lot! Not unlike most of our stuff, he was just slightly defective. Sometimes we would let him out to fly around the house, but he suffered with a mild case of diarrhea. Obviously we didn't let him out too often!

His "problem" could have been caused by the trauma induced by my brother and sister when they decided to put him into an empty potato chip bag to see if he could "peck" his way out. I was mortified! At this point, I believe, they sat me in the sink full of dishwater ... threatening that if I told mom and dad I would suffer a far worse fate. Hey, maybe I'm gaining some insight into why I've blocked out many of my past memories!

My Chatty Cathy doll had a speech impediment ... not a stuttering problem, just a slight hair lip. This was probably caused from upon being asked if I wanted her for Christmas I responded with repeated,"would, I! would I!" (resulting in her "hair lip, hair lip!") Sorry, bad joke...not very PC, and not intended to offend anyone.

I was a very imaginative child (oh, let's call it what it was ... I was a strange little kid). Since I couldn't have a real dog, my sister drew a collie onto a piece of cardboard box ... a pretty good likeness to Lassie, I must say! One of my favorite shows! I would run around the house (and, yes, sometimes even to outside) with this 2 dimensional cardboard dog ... one side colored the likeness of a beautiful collie, the other still bearing the printing from the box ... Charmin! But that didn't bother me...this was my dog, my pal, my friend. He was, of course, a fair-weather friend because he tended to disintegrate during periods of rain!

After moving from that phase, I decided on a career in musical theatre...that would be my front porch! I would bellow out tunes from the "HMS Pinafore." I really needed to be watched...why did they even let me out of the house?

I would play one-on-none basketball ... and, would lose every time!

I was a very active child...and for the most part had a fun childhood. Even if I inherited a mutant gene from my father, at least I also inherited his mutant "humor gene!" That's what keeps me going! Thanks, dad! -- By the way, is that "felt?" (one of his many great lines ... he would feel the material on your shirt and ask, "hey, is that felt?).

He would also put a small mirror in his hands and come up to me and ask, "hey, want to see a monkey?" ... then he would open up his hands and ... well, you know the rest!

Shortly after he passed away I was looking around his tool bench and found a small dime store photo-booth picture of me...goofy grin, cat's eye glasses and all! It made me laugh and cry at the same time...he used to tell me he kept it there to "keep away the mice!"

Another thing that keeps me upbeat is listening to Steve Martin cds. I've started playing them in the car...he's always made me laugh. Not only does his humor make me happy, but it takes me back to those times when things seemed so much more simple and carefree!

So, keep smiling and keep laughing...life's too short to be taken seriously!!!

Namaste,
Chele