I Really Was a Young Girl Once Upon a Time!

How do I talk about the fact that I wasn't always a grandmother?

It is true, though. I was actually born by C-section on July 2, 1943. Grammie Ruth could chose any day that week for my atypical entry into the world. So she chose her brother Lawrence's birthday. He turned 20 that day and he was with the United States Air Force, based in London during the Second World War. Back then, babies were often named after relatives who were in the armed forces and fighting for our country. Well, I couldn't take his NAME because I turned out to be a girl!

We lived on a little 50 acre farm while I was growing up. I liked our few cows and calves and absolutely hated the geese that my father had for awhile. They loved it when I went outside to the old hand pump to get a pail of water for our use inside. We had no water faucets back then, not in our house! One day when I was between 9 and 10 years old, the geese chased after me as usual. I screamed and started to run. They chased me with necks outstretched, wings flapping, bills open and hissing. They wanted to grab me in the worst way. It wasn't to be! Aunt Carla, my four-year-old sister grabbed a broom and chased them off into the distance. I could never figure out why they tormented me, but they were terrified of her. Can you???

I think the picture that I have labeled 1955 is actually 1957. I think it was taken when I was a freshman in high school just a year after my Dad died in a trucking accident. The picture from 1960 was my high school graduation picture. Don't you LOVE the goofy glasses??  I remember the dress that I wore in my 1947 picture. It was red and white and made from taffeta by my Grammie Muriel.I loved that dress. My Mom did my hair in the Shirley Temple ringlets, too. That was a long process and I always became very impatient with having her fix my hair. I didn't care if it was messy or not! I remember the 1945 dress, too. Mom says my grandmother made that one as well. It was a dusty pink color. I remember holding someone's hands to go up over the stairs to the studio where this was taken. It was taken to send to my Daddy when he was in the Navy.

I have quite a few real early memories. Someday I will tell you the story about when my Dad came back home from the Navy. (He brought me thin mints covered with chocolate and I still love those).