I am born

Good news! I have some material from my grandmother, so I can begin:

I was born December 1, 1929 in Wilder, Idaho. I don't know the time of day, but Momma said that she sent Uncle Clarence to Caldwell to get the doctor. Grandma Bean was a the house with Momma, Emmett, Lloyd, and Daddy. Our home was a two-story white house with trees all around. Emmett, the oldest, cried that day because I was supposed to be born on his birthday. (Needs more description of the house. Need to find out the weather that day and more about what everyone was doing that day.)

Escape

Well, it's not going to be too hot today, but look out this weekend! Meanwhile, my grandmother is wearing a jacket and wool socks. Not that I'm jealous - I'm always this green! Anyway, here's another story:

Her mother was an amazing woman too. She grew up in Des Moines, Iowa in poverty. She married a man who abused her. It got so bad that she packed up all her belongings in a trunk (we still have the trunk) and moved out west. We have no idea if she divorced him or if she even told him she left. This was in approximately 1917. There were no laws protecting women, so she did what she could to survive. Pretty gutsy! Then she met and married my grandfather out here in Idaho. The rest is history.

Woah!

I'm still waiting to hear from my grandmother (naughty girl!). In the meantime, I do have a story. Her father was a stagecoach driver before he married. When he tried to learn how to drive, it was a memorable experience. When he wanted to stop, he kept shouting "Woah!" but nothing happened. Then he shouted "Woah, you son of a bitch! Woah!" and drove into a ditch. Needless to say, my great-grandmother did all the driving.

Scarlet Fever

I'm still waiting to hear from my grandmother, but I do have a story. My oldest girl has scarlet fever right now. She seems to be doing ok, but we want to make sure it doesn't get to her heart. When my grandmother found out about it, she was very concerned, and here is why:

When my grandmother was a little girl, she and her oldest brother both caught scarlet fever. They did not have antibiotics in those days, so their house was quarantined. They were not supposed to sell milk even, but they needed the money (they lived in a tar paper shack, but nearly everyone else around them was poor too - it took her years to figure out just how poor they were).

She was very sick, and her mother made a bed for her out of two chairs and a blanket by the wood stove so she would stay warm in the kitchen. She always speaks of her mother with great affection.

So anyway, a disease out of the history books has hit Brianna. She is feeling better, but I had never heard of scarlet fever still making an appearance.

Vacation

My grandmother left for the Oregon Coast. She'll be there for the next two months. While I will miss her, I've given her an assignment. She has a notepad and her job is to write down her memories and send them to me. Of course, she'll be busy running around with the neighbors who have adopted her - shopping, having lunch, watching the ocean, missing the heat of our desert - but I'm hoping to have some material soon.

New Direction

Well, I haven't heard anything from my grandmother yet, but I'm sure I will shortly. When we had lunch, she told me about how she and her brothers worked in the Simplot potato plant when she was fourteen. She said there was a labor shortage because of the war, so she did eight hour shifts at the line sorting potatoes. They even started school late that year so they could finish the harvest.

There is so much we take for granted today. I had two summer jobs when I was 16 - fast food and daycare. I was fired from the fast food job, but I enjoyed the daycare. I was not crazy about having to work, however. I didn't feel like it was a patriotic duty. I wonder if there is anything we would be willing to do (or not do) for the sake of our country today.

On the bright side, I have decided what I am going to do for the next phase of my career. I am going to get another masters - this time in k-12 literacy, and then a certification for library work. I think I would enjoy being a school librarian. I was a public library director for eight years some time ago, and the only thing I didn't like about it was managing people. Well, with budgets the way they are, I don't imagine I will have to worry about managing a staff. I can just order books and impart my love of books to kids. I can also encourage the kids who hang out in the library by choice. I was one of those. Perhaps my mid-life crisis is coming to an end! That would be nice.

Day 1

Apparently, my grandmother has been working on writing down her memories. She said once she started thinking about it, the memories came flooding back. I can hardly wait to read them. I think I need to read some books on how to write a memoir. Any recommendations out there?

On a side note, I have a wonderful baby cockatiel. His name is Loki, and he's about 10 months old now. He's still frightened of everything, but yesterday he learned how to tear apart his toy. The thin wood petals are gone now, but he does still play with the beads and his bell. We are teaching him to whistle Beethoven's Ninth.

Perhaps by tomorrow, I will have more to add. I hope so.

Beginning

My grandmother (who is 80 years old) and I have decided to write a memoir of her life. I'm very excited because she has had a fascinating life. She was born at the end of 1929 and so she has lived through the Depression, WWII, three marriages, one divorce, and two widowhoods. While her life has not been an easy one, we always tease her about her rose colored glasses. While pink has never been my favorite color, I decided this blog should be pink for her.

You may wonder why I have named this Skippy. It is the nickname we gave to her after her hip replacement. That lady is so tough that a couple of days after her surgery, she refused to have any pain pills other than Tylenol. I love her more than anyone in the world, and I hope to do her story justice.

As for me, I have a Master's degree in English and I teach English composition. I'll let you in on a little secret - I'm not very good at it, nor am I all that good at writing, but I believe in this project. I plan on using this blog to write my progress on the project. If anyone reads this, you are welcome to comment or make suggestions. If no one reads it, I suppose that's ok too. I'm really doing this for me and for her.