Friday, February 1, 2013
Into Introducing Girls now. I will focus exclusively on this book during February. If I can get a decent draft on paper before March that would be terrific! It's going to be around 50,000-60,000 words I'm guessing.
I spoke with mom today and asked her questions about my childhood. I enjoy asking mom questions. She remembers some things and has forgotten about others. Any memory that's too painful for her is blocked out. I asked her about Sue Wilson, her friend from the 70s who had a very modern house on a hill that overlooked Bellingham Bay. Sue's husband was Ken (?) and they had two kids, Brad and Dana. Mom was always worried about Jill at Sue and Ken's house because there was a spiral staircase with chains as a railing, and mom was always worried Jill would tumble down and break her neck. The house opened into the kitchen and had a living room in the back with a master bedroom that had no doors. The partial wall had a fireplace between the living room and master bedroom. In the clusters mom said I did go to preschool there. The condo we lived in had three bedrooms with the middle room being dad's study (I'd forgotten that). When mom wanted to separate the dining room and living room with two chairs in the middle, dad said, "That's a stupid arrangement." Mom asked Uncle Steve to stand up for her. The indian family who babysat us did so for around 6 months. The family next to Bill and Ellie (twin girls with the turtle) had their dining table under the stairs. We were in the clusters around 18 months. Aug'67 to fall 69 or so. Mason Street was the house we lived in in Bellingham over the summer of 68 or 69. It was a furnished rental for college students. There was a wooden chair with wide arms that said "fuck you" carved into it. That really embarrassed mom. When Grandma and Grandpa Petty were at the F Street house brininging over their china, mom was very angry at Grandpa for not taking care of Grandma and really laid into him. Grandpa got very angry and pushed mom against a wall. They left shortly after that. I remember mom being upset that Grandma and Grandpa had left, while Gwen remembers mom kicking them out of the house. Nana and Gramp visited with Rita and Bob earlier because of the problems with Grandma and Grandpa. Mom does not remember fights she and dad had in the F Street house. Gwen remembers dad pushing her down when she put herself between mom and dad. Grandma and Grandpa Petty did not fight in front of the kids when mom was young, she said. Mom said dad wasn't like how he eventually became before they were married. He became much angrier and bitter later on.
It was a great conversation, the first of many I hope. I like thinking about all these old memories. It was a different era back then.
Into Introducing Girls now. I will focus exclusively on this book during February. If I can get a decent draft on paper before March that would be terrific! It's going to be around 50,000-60,000 words I'm guessing.
I spoke with mom today and asked her questions about my childhood. I enjoy asking mom questions. She remembers some things and has forgotten about others. Any memory that's too painful for her is blocked out. I asked her about Sue Wilson, her friend from the 70s who had a very modern house on a hill that overlooked Bellingham Bay. Sue's husband was Ken (?) and they had two kids, Brad and Dana. Mom was always worried about Jill at Sue and Ken's house because there was a spiral staircase with chains as a railing, and mom was always worried Jill would tumble down and break her neck. The house opened into the kitchen and had a living room in the back with a master bedroom that had no doors. The partial wall had a fireplace between the living room and master bedroom. In the clusters mom said I did go to preschool there. The condo we lived in had three bedrooms with the middle room being dad's study (I'd forgotten that). When mom wanted to separate the dining room and living room with two chairs in the middle, dad said, "That's a stupid arrangement." Mom asked Uncle Steve to stand up for her. The indian family who babysat us did so for around 6 months. The family next to Bill and Ellie (twin girls with the turtle) had their dining table under the stairs. We were in the clusters around 18 months. Aug'67 to fall 69 or so. Mason Street was the house we lived in in Bellingham over the summer of 68 or 69. It was a furnished rental for college students. There was a wooden chair with wide arms that said "fuck you" carved into it. That really embarrassed mom. When Grandma and Grandpa Petty were at the F Street house brininging over their china, mom was very angry at Grandpa for not taking care of Grandma and really laid into him. Grandpa got very angry and pushed mom against a wall. They left shortly after that. I remember mom being upset that Grandma and Grandpa had left, while Gwen remembers mom kicking them out of the house. Nana and Gramp visited with Rita and Bob earlier because of the problems with Grandma and Grandpa. Mom does not remember fights she and dad had in the F Street house. Gwen remembers dad pushing her down when she put herself between mom and dad. Grandma and Grandpa Petty did not fight in front of the kids when mom was young, she said. Mom said dad wasn't like how he eventually became before they were married. He became much angrier and bitter later on.
It was a great conversation, the first of many I hope. I like thinking about all these old memories. It was a different era back then.
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