Monday, June 18, 2007

One of the toughest things I am going to do....

Hello All!

This coming Thursday, the 21st of June, I am going to have to do one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I will be letting my 12 year old son travel to another part of the world, where for the most part, I will be unable to help him, watch over him, guide him, comfort him, yell at him or do anything more than talk to him on the phone. He is leaving for England, Wales and Ireland to spend three weeks abroad with the People To People Student Ambassador program. He was nominated and selected from a group of Central Illinois Students to go on this cultural exchange program and for the last 6 months we have been working to raise funds to send him. Well, now the time has come. I think it has snuck up on everyone in our family. I think that for a very long time, my son thought that it would really not happen, but indeed it really is. I know that he has many apprehensions about leaving and traveling so far away from his family. I have the same ones. However, this program has been doing this sort of thing for almost 30+years and is very well organized and well planned.
Aside from being very proud of him for going, I am jealous. I have never been anywhere other than Canada and that cannot really be said of going to a foreign country, especially when I have only traveled to Toronto. He is going to get to see and do so much. The itinerary they have laid out for him is amazing! I highly doubt he will even think about calling home he will be so busy and moving around.
Thursday is coming up fast. I am quite nervous but I do not want to let him see that. I am sure there will be tears upon leaving but he will not see concern in my face. I hope to add entries to the blog as he progresses in his travel. But for now, all I want to do is get through Thursday and see him off safely and comfortably. Other than making sure he is well prepared, that is about all I will be able to do for him. Wish me luck!

Later!

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Earliest Memories?

How far back does ones memory go? Are we able to remember things from our very early childhood days? I was thinking about this when on vacation in St. Louis. My daughter, who had visited the arch when she was about 2 years old or so, thought she remembered it, but really was only remembering a photo she had seen. My son did remember some of it but it was very little and he was about 6 years old. Not that far back in terms of length of time for him. It piqued my interest and I thought about what some of my earliest memories are. Here are what I came up with.

I remember an afternoon spent in a mud puddle at the entrance of my parents driveway. My younger brother and I spent a good hour or so playing in a deep muddy pool of warm water. There is a photo of this, and I am not remembering just the photo, because I distinctly remembering riding through the puddle with my trike and pouring water over my brother's legs and arms. And I remember my mother laughing at me before taking the picture.

I remember a 2 year old birthday with a clown cake. I remember it being decorated on the counter just to the left of where the fridge in my parents house now sits. I also remember tasting the icing and taking a picture outside by the front lamp post.

I remember my first day of walking to the school bus. I had to walk with my older brother, who was 13 years older than me. I also remember standing in the road outside my parents house with my sack of things for school waiting for my mother to take a picture. I don't know if that photo still exists or not. I vividly remember my fear and walking behind him to the corner to be picked up. It was a sunny, hot day. I don't remember the bus arriving but I distinctly recall the bus driver saying to my brother, "It looks like you have a shadow today." I also remember the nervousness I felt when he walked to the back of the bus and I stayed in the front. I thought I was supposed to stay with him but instead he moved as far to the back of the bus as was allowed. I don't remember anything after that.

I definately remember the old neighbor we had next door. Lee Fry. I remember stealing his cane and letting us sit with him on his front porch in the afternoon. He also used to give us cold drinks in the summer. I remember his yard was often overgrown and it had junk lying around in it. He was quite old and I think we have photos of me and my younger brother posing with him. I also remember visiting him in the nursing home in Hoopeston I think. Maybe it was Watseka. He died when I was maybe 5 years old but I don't recall a funeral that I attended. I currently own his mitre box saw and his single shot 12 guage shotgun. He was a cool guy.

Speaking of old guys, I remember the barber how used to cut my hair. Snuffy Barth. Snuffy was his nickname and for the life of me I cannot remember his real first name right now. I remember the old barber chair that was too big for me to sit in so I had to sit on my dad's lap. The shop always had neat things to look at and examine but we (my younger brother and I) were always told to sit still and not mess with anything. I seem to recall his shop being in a garage or at least it looked that way to me. Snuffy was a short balding man that had a interesting pattern of speech. Almost like he was puffing out air as he talked. He was incredibly friendly and made getting haircuts tolerable for a youngster.

This is what I can come up with for the moment. I am sure that as I think harder, more memories will come to the fore. If any of you have that you want to share, feel free to comment! Thanks!

Later!