Mom's Quarter

As a child one thing I looked forward to was when Mom had her card party over. There were 8-10 women in the card group and they met every other week at each other’s houses… so they were only at our house a couple times a year, but it was always an “Event” we looked forward to. First of all it meant good food. There were salads and desserts and all kinds of interesting things Mom would put out for her guests that we were allowed to “sample” after everyone else had eaten. These included junk food and pop… something we did not have a lot of normally. My favorite of my Mom’s friends was Joy because she loved M&M’s. Mom always got M&M’s for her and we were allowed to have some too. (Plus Joy would sneak us some when Mom wasn’t looking)

I think a lot of women at the time had groups. We lived in the kind of neighborhood where there were women who met for book clubs and for Tupperware parties and even a few investment clubs. Mom’s group played poker. There was betting and smoking and swearing and laughing well into the wee hours of the night. These women all went to high school together and were a very close-knit group. They did not let just anyone in. I think they were mostly cheerleaders and baton twirlers from Mom’s school (Class of ’61) but they were a rowdy bunch!

When my sisters and I were little, if we didn’t argue in the living room, Mom would forget that we were awake and we’d get to stay up well past bedtime. When we were older we got to waitress (it was a big deal at the time) and fetch food and drinks for the ladies and they’d “tip us” with coins. Then, finally, we KNEW we were mature when they would let us sit in for a hand while they made a phone call or ran to the bathroom. When we did go to bed it was very hard to sleep because of the talking and the laughing that continued well into the night. (I think these parties always ended by 1 AM or so….. but to a kid that is LATE!)

One of the rules they had was that everyone started out with the same amount of money. I think it was $20 or $25, but I don’t remember. When someone lost it all they got to play for free. They played a game called “High/Low” where there were two pots of money… one for the best hand and one for the worst. To say you were going for the best hand you had to have a quarter, so if you were broke, another player was always making sure you had at least one quarter. At the end of the night, everyone left with at least a quarter. No one ever lost everything.

Thirteen years ago last Sunday, Mom was the first of all the card group members to pass away. The whole group took it hard and every one of them showed up. They asked to be pallbearers and we said yes. (My uncles were not thrilled to have a bunch of women helping them with the casket… but I am pretty sure the card group felt the same way about them!) The other thing they asked was if they could put a quarter in Mom’s pocket. We said yes to that too. We knew she’d be waiting for her friends in Heaven and we wanted to make sure she’d be able to play. :)

Stickers

In a public school we have to be very conscientious of parents belief systems and it can get challenging when the beliefs of different cultures impact what we are used to doing. For instance, there are several students that do not celebrate birthdays or holidays. My student teacher asked if she could give one of these students a shamrock sticker at the end of the session. (Stickers are a hot commodity in kindergarten and first grade)

I explained that she could give the child a shamrock sticker but not on St. Patrick’s Day. The parents had told me at a previous meeting that they saw every day as equal… so they did not want any more importance placed on any one day, but they did not have a problem with the individual items. (An example this parent gave was that they can have cake… just not as a celebration of their birthday) Pepper walked into the room as I was giving another example of what the parents had told me.

Me: “They said they always dress up in their nicest clothes because they never know when they will meet their maker.”

Pepper: “My maker can see me and can wait until I’m wearing something he thinks is nice before he decides to take me.” :)

Whispers

My student teacher has been working with the kids on my caseload. They asked her why she was working with them and I was just watching. She explained to them that she is learning how to be a speech therapist and that I am her teacher, just like they all have teachers. They really like her so they want to make sure she does well and I give her good grades. One of the best examples of their concern was when the student teacher pointed to the word DOG and asked a group: “Can you tell me this word?” One of the student’s whispered, while glancing my way “Ya’know your supposed to know this stuff! “

A’Waltzing

Pete did not sign up for his school play this year. He has in the past but this year he wanted to work behind the scenes with sound and light and set design. This went along very well until the director announced that she needed volunteers for the dance number in the beginning of the 2nd act. It would mean learning to waltz, dressing up very “royally” and holding hands with a girl. Pete isn’t a dancer, does not love dressing up in “Princely” clothes or putting on stage make-up but he said ok. There are some people in this world that just can’t help but be full of goodness. I think Pete is one of those people. He has a gentle spirit and a kind heart.

Last weekend was the play so he was up late every night and spent lots of time in “stress” mode- taking care of his back stage duties and remembering all those dance steps really wore him out. But Sunday morning, with a little frustration about how tired he felt (I don’t think the 13 year old is a saint!) he was up in time to acolyte at church for his little brother who was out of town. Following that service another acolyte asked Pete to help with the late service because they were one acolyte short…. He did that too. He really is that kind of person.

On Valentine’s Day when Pepper and I picked him up from play rehearsal, Pete handed us each a flower. He said they were selling them as fundraisers during lunch so he bought one for each of us. We told him how much we liked them and then I asked if anyone harassed him for buying TWO flowers (most 8th grade boys don’t have 2 Moms or 2 girlfriends). He said no, and besides- he had actually purchased 3. “Three?!!” Pepper and I said together, not realizing we had competition for his affection! “Who was the other one for? Do you have a girl friend we don’t know about?” (This has happened before!)

“No, nothing like that. There is a girl that eats lunch at my table. She has Down’s syndrome and just got her braces tightened. She was crying because her teeth hurt, so I gave her one too.”

Are we lucky or what? ☺

Mrs. Wilke's Boarding House

We had many great conversations with lots of people from "Slow-vannah" (their word, not mine!) But one of my favorites was with a cook from Mrs. Wilke's restaurant. He came out while we were standing in line. (It was quite a line!)

me: It sure smells good.

Cook: It is good!

Another woman in line: I've never waited in a line so long for lunch.

Cook: Then you never ate here.

A man in line: What if we don't get in by 2 PM? (the time they close)

Cook: If you're here in line then you're in. If you call us at 2- we closed!

:)

Signage

Some signs I saw on our vacation in Savannah that I liked....

At the Paula Deen Store:

At a kitchen gadget store:

At a wine store:

At a political rally:

:)

Savannah Hand washy stuff

In Savannah, a lot of bathrooms had this sandy hand cleaner stuff instead of regular soap. In the mid-west I have found that anti-bacterial soap seems to be the norm. But while in Savannah, it was this stuff with a little scoop that you just flop into your hand then rub all together and rinse off with water. I do not like sand at all. I think it is gritty and gross. A lot of people like sand... although I don't know why. The advertisement says it has a secret ingredient that removes dead skin and makes hands feel smooth. I'm thinking the secret ingredient is... SAND! So, while the weather down there is much better.... I'm sticking with the good old anti-bacterial stuff that we have here that does not feel gritty and I definitely did NOT purchase any of this awful stuff while I was down there!!