polkadotzi

Before the carefree days of the polkadotzi gang there was the real wearing of the polka dot dress shown on the header.  It really is or was an old fashioned bathing suit made by me for a sort of weird Miss America contest (actually Miss Wing Ding but that takes a lot of explaining.) As well as making and modeling the old fashioned bathing suit, we had a talent contest, and here you see yours truly in her winning talent: Prinderella and the Cince . You can see here that half of me was in shambles and ashes, and the other half in a fairy tale princess dress. It was blue. I'm wondering now why the rag dress was used. Was that a dress I wore and sacrificed for the contest? I know it was a home made dress and now that I think of it, didn't we do a lot of sewing then. It wasn't at all the dark ages, but it seems to me if I wanted a new dress I had to make it,

A favorite childhood memory that stands very strong is the White Gift Service we would have every December on a Sunday evening at our church. My dad had constructed a large white cross. We would all bring canned goods or other food stuffs wrapped in simple white tissue paper.  After singing Christmas carols, and probably a short meditation, the lights would lower and all eyes would focus on the cross. Row by row we would move to the front and lay our white gifts at the foot of the cross. The food then was taken somewhere where there was a need. I don't remember that part, but I do remember the wonder of it, from a young child's perspective. Simple, but profound.

My Uncle (great, that is) Albert and his wife Minnie on the boat that took them to China. This must have been in the 30s. They were missionaries. My uncle never came home (I lost two missionary great-uncles in China in the 30s, one on my mom's side and one on my dad's side). He had a ruptured appendix and died from infection. I wonder what those boat trips were like for missionaries in those days. I know they did not go first class. Some were on the ships for weeks or even months. Probably a lot of soul-searching got done, Bible reading, study, reflecting, writing ... Most likely well rested when they arrived to face many challenges.

My grandma and her four girls. My mom, the eldest, is on my grandma's right. Twins are in front. Check out those awnings!  (Click on to see larger image.)  Note I have a grandma and a grandmother; this is not the Thanksgiving grand mother  seen below in her kitchen.)

I love this photo of my grandmother, for it is how I remember her most.  Seems like when I am in the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day, I often think of the women who have gone before me: particularly my mother, and this, my paternal grandmother. I always try to do so much ahead of time, but by the end of the day, it's just plain exhausting. Then I say, "Was it worth it all?"  Funny, I never heard either of them ask that, nor did I ever think they were particularly tired at the end of the day. They probably kept those thoughts to themselves. I figure in this picture my grandmother is not too much older than I am now, they just looked like old ladies a lot earlier in life back then (!!) I do remember hers and my mom's perfectly gorgeous and delicious Thanksgiving dinners. I hope my kids will have some similar memories too. We did have a good day yesterday, and Spouse said how wonderful it all was for all of us. A new family member, under 6 months, just added to the flavors o...

I heard someone say tonight that there aren't too many who remember the days when you walked home from school for lunch. The day, 45 years ago, that Kennedy died, I was home from school already, in bed with the mumps. Because I was sick, I got to have the family radio next to my bed and enjoyed listening to the afternoon 15 minute radio soaps. Right at lunch time, eating the c-ampbells mushroom soup my mom had heated up, I heard the radio show interrupted by a news report of the assassination. I popped downstairs to inform the others, and the radio then left my bedside for a more central location. My dad went out and rented a small TV for us to watch all that was going on. Because I was still housebound, I was home from church Sunday, again watching the news, and was an eyewitness to the murder of Lee H--Oswald, since it was live TV. Once again I had unbelievable news for my family when they returned from church. Those were turbulent years. Five years later we were in the college ...

This has to be the early 70s because of the hair dos. I wonder where I was, as I don't remember this scene, but it is the house I lived in when I was a teenager and during the college years when I was home. I don't think I was home much, and I wonder if my parents missed me. These are my "Alaska cousins."  My uncle was a missionary doctor in a small town in Alaska for 20 years; my aunt, his wife, I was named for. Those were the days! note: this is not my photo, obviously. One of my cousins is going through old photos and uploading some to facebk, which is where I pulled this from!