Reminisce

What Doesn’t Kill You…

Jeanna G1 Comment

When I was little, I loved having the attention of my older brothers. They’re 11 and 12 years older, so they had many other interests aside from playtime with their baby sister. Needless to say, whenever I got their attention, I was up for anything…and I mean anything. 

A common activity was being timed on how fast I could do things for them. “Go get me a soda! I’ll time you!”

Or when we’d play hide and seek and they’d stuff me under the couch cushions and sit on me and act like they didn’t know where I was. 

Then there was that time Jon tore up the neighbor’s yard on his dirt bike while I was riding piggyback. 

Or that time they both got tired of babysitting, so they threw me in the backseat of the car for a joyride. They pulled so many donuts in a cul-de-sac that I’m still unable to get on carnival rides. 

But my favorite activity was playing Monster with Joe. The story line was always that he was the Monster, like as in Frankenstein’s, and someone was always trying to take away his Dolly (yours truly), so he had to keep me away from the bad guys. He’d whip me around in circles by one arm and then let go. I’d fly and roll across the yard and then run back for more. 

Now I know what you must be thinking… You wish you had brothers like mine, don’t you? 

Nourishing Nostalgia

Jeanna GLeave a comment

Which food, when you eat it, instantly transports you to childhood?

Ahhh, food. One of my favorite topics. I live to eat and I eat to live. Comfort food, health food, leftovers, gourmet menus, international cuisine, a la carte and fixed price…I love it all.

And when did this love of food begin? My birthday. It was the one day each year when I could decide what the family would eat for dinner. And what did I choose? Lasagne and cheesecake. Every year.

So many more foods are a recipe for nostalgia. My Grandma Fyfe’s chocolate chip cookies in a coffee tin make me feel as though nothing could be wrong with the world, just like they did back then. Ice cream sundaes channel tv time with my dad. Eggplant Parms remind me of my hardworking mom, because that’s what my dad and I shared when we visited the restaurant during her shift. Macintosh apples and cheddar slices were shared after we picked a bushel in the fall. Chinese and champagne ring in the New Year. NY Deli bagels and chicken cutlet sandwiches are enough to persuade me to move back north. Late night microwaveable mac and cheese was always shared with my sister after a night on the town. Now she makes homemade, but she and I will always remember our roots. Shrimp cocktail, olives, and ham crisps usher in every holiday gathering. Peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and fluff, peanut butter and pickles… all labeled with my initials on a piece of masking tape that I’d shove in my backpack on the way to catch the school bus. My Uncle’s pea pancake surprises, my Aunt’s fruit Jell-O “delight,” my friend’s mom’s peanut butter fudge…

Well, I think it’s safe to say that if I ever run out of ideas for my blog about childhood, I’ve found my next theme!

Teen Scenes

Jeanna GLeave a comment

When I was a kid back in the 80s, hair bands were rockin, hot rods were revvin, and leather, lace, and Lycra were stylin. We’d wrestle like Hulk and Macho Man, karate kick like Ralph, and Moonwalk like Michael.

You either watched what was on the one tv, or you went outside and acted like what you saw on tv. Celebrities were our idols. We’d scrape up our dog walking change and head to the corner store to buy the latest issues of Bop and Tiger Beat, tear out the headshots of our heartthrobs, and tape them all over our bedroom walls.

I used to watch our cousins compete over who could say the names of every rock star that covered their walls the fastest. There were a hundred if there was one. I always wondered how they could even see past their giant perms.

A couple years ago my daughter asked for a “big girl room.” At age 10 she wanted BoHo aesthetic with hanging ivy and macrame and gold accents. I was like, “Wow, times have changed .”

But then tonight she says to me, “I want to redo my room.”

“Oh yeah? How so?” I wondered as dollar signs blurred my vision.

“I want to paint it all one color and cover it with posters of all my favorite singers.”

Now that’s a trend I can buy into!