Recently many of my blogging friends have been tagging one another to post several different things about themselves that most people don't know. I have been tagged to take this challenge as well! I was born at home in my parent's bedroom, my mother was scared to death to go to a doctor for her first confinement. I weighed 10 lbs, 13 ounces and my paternal grandmother was present at my birth. My mother had already chose my name to be Lynda Diane. She was overruled by my grandmother, who never had a girl child, and wanted me named Charlotte Diane, after her best friend.I grew up in a small house on Simpson Street in Troy, Ohio and was literally worshiped by my paternal grandmother. I was the girl child that she had always wanted after birthing 4 sons, one of whom died. Then there was my uncle Andy, my uncle Jimmy and my dad, Stanley Eugene. I can remember when we were small, my mother taking us fishing on the banks of the Ohio river. My mother loved to fish, us kids would sit on the banks of that river and watch her. The last time my Mom went fishing was at the age of 83 years old, while a patient at the nursing home that I worked at. In her wheelchair, with a big straw hat on, she said she had not had that much fun in years!
My birth was followed by that of my sister, Sandra Kay and my brother, Stanley Eugene, better known as Skipper - my Dad was in the marines and at sea when my brother was born. We lived in Ohio until I was 9 years old, then following my Dad to Michigan where he had obtained a job with Chrysler Corporation. The motor city had a lot more job opportunities than the small town we lived in, in Ohio.
One of the gifts that I treasured most in my life was the Christmas that I was 13, when my sweet father, on his own, went to the drugstore and bought me a set of Revlon "Queen of Diamonds" nailpolish and lipstick! It was Cunningham's drugstore and he bought it all by himself. It was bright red! My Daddy was so strict with me that I was so touched that he would pick this out and give it to me on Christmas day. I will never forget that! It was the best gift I have ever received.
I remember my first fiance asking for my hand in marriage. My dad said to him "just remember, she comes from very good stock". I miss my father so much sometimes, but I was blessed to have him as long as I did. For a gentlemen with only an 8th grade education, he was one of the most educated men I have had the pleasure to know. He taught me a great deal about life and priorities. I never did marry this guy, Richard Koch, a manager at the A & P grocery where I worked as a cashier, and he was manager of the meat department. This is the only guy that broke my heart. I wonder what he is doing with his life now?
My first job was at S.S. Kresges when I was barely 16 years old. I made cotton candy, snow cone and popcorn from my own little booth in the store. After that, I worked various jobs in banking and the legal secretary profession.
My father always wanted me to enter law enforcement and become a female police officer. At the time of my early years of employment, money was the biggest factor in the jobs I took. It was only in my later years that I realized that if you don't love what you do, all the money in the world will not make a difference.
All during my young years, I remained very close to my paternal grandmother. Every summer, after moving to Michigan, my Dad would drive me and my sister back to Ohio where I would spend the summer with my grandmother and my sister would stay with my Aunt Mary. I played most of the time with my cousins, both male and female. I can remember collecting paperdolls with my cousins Judy and Maryann! I can still smell the scent of that old store attic where I used to buy my paperdolls. Funny how we remember comforting scents. I remember walking to school as a very young girl, through the grass near the greenhouse with the fragrance of geraniums still a fond memory. Smells are so important to our memories, I will always love the fragrance of earth, geraniums and musty attics where paperdolls are kept for a young girl to purchase.
My grandmother died when I was 25 and I was literally heartbroken for years after that. Actually, my father predeceased her by 7 years dying when he was only 40. The loss of my Dad and then his mother affected me for a very long time.
I eventually became a nurse's aide because I loved caring for people. Soon I began admiring the nurses I worked with that dressed in white and wore their nursing caps. I went to my first nursing school when my 3 children were all young and became a Licensed Practical Nurse. I did that for many years - finally obtaining my RN degree at the young age of 50. I have never regretted becoming a nurse, but my second choice would have been to become a librarian. I would rather read than eat, sometimes.
I consider my greatest accomplishment in life as being the birth of my children. Each one is different, unique and as I age, they are my best friends. The greatest loss in my life was my daughter, Leslie in 2002. I doubt that I will ever get over the depth and pain of that loss. The pain literally brings you to your knees! Physical pain does not even begin to compare. To die would have been better than suffering the pain of that loss. However, over the years, I have learned to accept her death as something that God felt he needed to do.
I am glad that in my mother's final years, she and I were able to become close. We were very distant for a greater part of her life. In those later years, I became her caregiver and I think that was very important to her. The hardest decision I ever made was to have her removed from life support when her condition deteriorated. That is what she would have wanted, but it was extremely difficult.
I am not close to my siblings in my current life, there are so many unresolved issues that we could not seem to overcome. It is sad, but it is what it is. I wish them no harm, only happiness.
I would not change many things in my life, because even if there were painful times, there were also times of great joy. I believe that one learns through pain to appreciate the joy in life.
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