it's 8/12/15. I still think of mom & dad every day, how much i miss them, how much they've missed, and the guilt... the guilt... i can't get over not being a better daughter. it makes me cry. i try to think of all the good things that make me happy then i think that i miss it and i cry. cry baby. but this morning i was thinking of our birthday parties when we were kids.
we had great birthday parties and have some pictures stored. first of all, we had to invite each kid on the block. back then in the 60's we knew everybody on the block. almost every house had a kid or more. we all played on the street together until the street lights came on for me or until parents called us in for dinner. let's see, going around the block there was the berry's with two older kids dave & a sister I don't know; then the rowe's with two boys dale and an older one i don't remember but i do remember he was big (fat) and dale was my age and a brat; no kids in the next house; the matthew's had a girl michelle i think and boy of course i don't remember his name he was younger like robert; then the hmmm, don't remember their last name yet but they had 6-7 kids one girl my age, lots of boys, they were the crazies of our block, her name was nancy, she was a 'bad' girl, one time her brother was sent to 7-11 (i think it was here back then) for a loaf of bread but when he got home it was half gone. they were a hungry bunch all the time. the hardins were our closest family friends, moms and dads would get together probably once a week and play marbles and drink and we went to bed. one time while they were playing, robert sleep walked into the patio and peed. they had russell, cindy, cheryl, and paula. one year both the dads were overseas and we went to thanksgiving at sir george's smorgasbord. fun times. also, cheryl ran through our patio sliding glass door when we were all called in for dinner and she wondered why we all were running way over to the side (where the door was open) and she went right through the window with only a scratch on her hand!!! mom sewed prom dresses for paula and when i was old enough i even babysat paula's daughter. jennifer was friends with russell's daughter katrina. then the mcgeachy's had jerry; then the cotton's had jim & another boy; then the converry's had one girl... what was her name... she had a cool play house in the back yard, they had a daschund that i was petting and she jumped up and bit my lip and I had to have stitches!! i don't even remember the next house's people (that's sad) then there are the tagabon's with louie, adrianna, lori, karina, and marcella. i was adrianna's age, we all played house on the sidewalks. down the street on the other side, i remember janelle warner, and well i now think THESE were the mcgeachy's but they had a passle of kids mostly boys, beanie (the tiny mexican boy who had a ton of brothers n sisters). that's funny, we could call him beanie back then. now we would be racists! there was tina beadles & her brother... tommy. tina died of cancer or something. she was my friend before she got too sick. we went to brownies together. across the street was the, well i forgot but i remember they had a cat and theat was when i realized i was so allergic to cats. caddy corner was the guerolla's, eleanor was my friend she had 3 older siblings. I remember julie making refried beans and tortilla for us, the big chunk of lard melting in the cast iron pan. so delicious.
then we could also invite friends from school or wherever. my parents never had their friends over for our parties (except for the spare mom or two to help with the festivities). i don't remember my dad being around but i remember my mom bustling about, wearing dresses, puffy hair, and i think barefooted. Mrs. Hardin was almost always there. mom always made a new dress for me; robert always had a birthday outfit too. they were summer outfits because it was warm in april and july. she organized games with prizes in the both the back yard and the living room. i especially remember dropping clothespins into a milk bottle. we would kneel on a kitchen chair and drop like 5 clothespins over the back of the chair into the bottle. the most wins. the winner got a prize. when we won the prize, we were encouraged to give the prize to the second place person because we were going to get a lot of presents anyways. we always did. she made goodie bags for the guests to take home after the party. i remember her putting candies into cupcake papers. we had a picnic table in the patio and we would all sit around that for cake and ice cream. homemade cake but store bought ice cream. we never had a bbq or other food because it was just a kid's birthday party. my parents never invited their own friends with kids and force any other kids on us. (i hated that about j) we would have all the kids sit in a circle to open presents and each present was passed around the circle so everybody could check it out. nobody kept it or cried to keep it or tried to play with it or open it. we were pretty polite kids back then. they looked and passed it around.
i'm remembering the hardins. i was so in awe because Mr. Hardin had a rock shining kit, the kind that rolls the rocks around until they're jewelry ready. he kept it in the garage because it made so much noise. we could hear it when we walked by. i always wanted one of those. also in his garage, he had a glass bottle cutting machine which he made drinking glasses out of bottles among other things. so cool. he and dad were the ones who took me to the mountains and they collected those giant granite rocks in the back yard.
i remember fishing with my parents & then my dad going out on boats and fishing and bringing back tuna... yellow fin tuna! which was super weird because my dad gets seasick and he doesn't like to eat fish or smell it being cooked! he just liked fishing. we went fishing on the ib pier a lot. good times. my parents were awesome.
i remember on the fourth of july several times, we drove down the strand and just parked to watch the fireworks. i knew it was my dad's birthday so i thought for a long time that all navy guys had their birthday on the fourth of july and the navy shot fireworks for them too. weird things kids think. me anyways.
sometimes my dad brought things home from the base for family pleasure. projectors, films, and screen for movie night. they were educational i think, i remember loving the flowers in slow motion blooming and dying. pop up campers and camping was so much fun. not so much for mom, i think it was more work for her than anybody but i was a kid and it was fun.
going to the commissary was fun for me. we'd buy lots of food, dad would sleep in the car.
we went to picnics by the navy. admiral baker field was fun, i remember they had a pool. i remember them cooking steaks on the giantist grill i've ever seen.
my parents were awesome and i miss them so much. they were great & clever & smart & fun. so i'm crying now, time to stop.
