A Memory Triggered

I was sitting at work today double-checking a student list for one of the assistant directors. A last name popped out at me (let’s call it VanHelsing). I remembered a girl from high school that had the same last name and I wondered if it was her son. I actually remember seeing him in our office before and thinking that he had the coloring of the VanHelsing family.

Then I started thinking about the girl, whose name was Roberta. She was a tiny girl with long dark hair, big dark eyes and an olive complexion. She had an odd way of speaking: like with an accent and always very fast. She was pretty smart, not good at gym, but very pleasant if you took the time to talk to her. Her family didn’t have much, and she had a younger brother and an older sister who struggled with her weight. There were days when she wasn’t quite fresh, to put it delicately. I think that’s why she liked gym days: because you could shower after class.

Anyhoo, the memory that immediately popped into mind was when we were in high school, and one weekend the youth leader from church was having a sleepover for the high school girls, and then we were going horseback riding the next day. I was so excited! My parents rarely let me go to sleepovers (you have your own bed to sleep in!) so this was a treat for me.

Imagine my surprise when I got to Kathy’s house, and Roberta was there. She didn’t go to our church, but my friend Debbie had asked if she wanted to come. I honestly didn’t mind since I had no beef with her, and at a sleepover the more the merrier! We ate lots of junk, watched movies, girl talked and just were having a good time. Roberta seemed a little shy, so I was talking to her and she lit up like Christmas because we made her feel like part of the gang.

You know how at these things, girls are always trying makeup and new hair styles and such. One of the girls asked Roberta if she’d like for her to brush her hair. She eagerly nodded yes. She did have long beautiful hair and I’m sure no one was brushing it for her. So my friend was behind her with the brush, Roberta was facing me and chatting happily and I could see my friend mouth, “Her hair is filthy,” behind her. I kind of wasn’t surprised but I felt bad. However, kudos to my friend for continuing to do this nice thing for Roberta.

Afterwards, my friend must have said something to Kathy because as we were all finally winding down she said, “Tomorrow before we eat breakfast remember to shower first. If you need any bathroom items just ask!” Subtle but effective! The next morning Roberta was the first one for a shower; and Kathy lent her some clean clothes to wear.

It was a good day for all, especially Roberta. After the sleepover, it was business as usual. But when we would see her in the halls we’d say hi; or if we had her in gym we no longer chose her last. Nothing fake: we just got to see a different side of her at the sleepover. I’m glad Debbie invited her.

Roberta is still around, by the way. I’ve seen her a couple of times the past few years and she still looks the same. I hope she has had a good life and is happy. After all: isn’t that what we all want at the end of the day?

Updates

Every so often, I’ll go back and read a couple of my posts to amuse myself. In there, I noticed two posts that said I would update as appropriate yet I never did. So now seems like a good time to do so.

The first update comes five years after the original post entitled “July 20^th”. In this post, it referenced my Saratoga racetrack / love story. There were only three chapters left to complete the manuscript, and I wanted to publish it on the opening day of the Flat Track season. That didn’t happen.

Now it’s 2020 and guess what? It STILL isn’t finished! I’m down to a chapter and a half. What’s my excuse? I published a different book instead, one that is a prequel to the book I haven’t finished yet! AND I’m working on another prequel to that Saratoga book. I know it sounds crazy but have you met me?? Apparently I’ll do anything to not finish writing that book. Maybe when I run out of prequels, the Saratoga book will be the sequel. Madness!

The next post is Lost and Found, from 2010. In it I reference an old school friend named Scott. I mentioned that I was writing a book about our chance run in, and that I would let you know when it was published. Well here’s the announcement: it was published November 2, 2011! Over eight years ago. I am so remiss! But it’s a fabulous story so now that you know about it: go to Amazon Kindle and download it onto your Kindle or e-reader app. You’ll love it!

And the last update for today is about my friend Sky, as in Sky’s the Limit from January 2011. I promised that I would write a blog post about him someday. Well I never did! It was too hard for me and there was just too much involved. So instead: I wrote a book! It’s one of the prequels to that Saratoga unfinished book. It’s called “A Good Place to Start”. It doesn’t exactly tell our story, but it tells a story that I like and it makes me feel good. So if you want a little more insight into my relationship with Sky, download this book!

Those are the only updates I have for today. Trust me: there will be more in the future!

2020: Let's Get It Started!

It seems like such a long time since I have written a post. It’s been a rather challenging few months but baby I’m back!

I’m not going to bore you with the…less than stellar things that have happened. But I will tell you about Marie. I didn’t make this info public previously because I didn’t want to put a damper on anyone’s holiday. Christmas Eve morning I woke up to find Marie on the floor in the dining room. She had fallen but was conscious. I had no idea how long she had been down, and neither did she. Brie came to help me get her up but we couldn’t, so I called Clancy and he came. It took the 3 of us to get her up (she was weak so it was dead weight). We got her on the couch and then I called 9-1-1. Long story short: she was taken to the hospital where we discovered she had a hematoma on her brain, which may have caused a mini stroke and that’s why she fell. However, because of her age and overall health, a biopsy cannot be performed so we won’t know if it’s benign or not, or even how long she’s had it.

The original plan was for her to eventually go to a nursing home or hospice. But because she’s the comeback kid, she improved! She is walking with her walker, talking and there doesn’t seem to be much difference in her memory from before the fall. She’s eating 3 square meals a day too, ha ha. She is currently in rehab but will be going home on February 20^th. Who says God isn’t on the throne???

I’m not sure how long she will be able to be home. She knows she has to be mobile, otherwise I can’t take care of her. So I’m sure that is impetus enough for her to stay strong, as long as the hematoma lets her. The dogs have missed her; and would climb up in her chair and snuggle under her blankets. When the EMTs were at the house, Lilly climbed up on my mother and barked to keep them away from her. But because she weighs 8 pounds, it was easy to lift her off and hold her so they could do what they needed to. As for Victoria the cat: let’s just say she’ll be glad to have her old sparring partner back!

I never thought this was how I was going to ring out the old year and ring in the new, but here it is. I’m looking for things to improve from here, so cheers and a belated Happy New Year!