Last day of April.

Hum….

I actually made a post on Era about missed toys.
Just a small and short post.

What toys do you miss from your childhood?

The only toys I could think about where Bernice and Wilamina.
They where my twin Cabbage Patch dolls. They had red yarn hair and shiny light blue dresses with white lace fringe. Just simple dolls, but I was really attached to them.

The last time I saw them, I was going to school. Northside.
I think I was in seventh grade. Probably. I was feeling kind of motivated since I ‘actually’ made my bed that morning. I propped them up on my pillows and headed out with brother in tow to make sure he got on the buss to go to elementary school.

Unbeknownst to me, around lunch time, the house caught fire.
Bernice and Wilamina melted to an unrecognizable lump. Not even a thread of their dresses was left untouched. Outside of my record player, that’s all I thought about. Well, that and the kittens that were in the garage.

The mommy cat had died or ran off. Something. I was trying to keep her babies alive. Three of them? Four? It was a pretty futile effort since I couldn’t be there for them all the time, but I wanted to try. I just couldn’t let baby kittens die without some sort of action. I didn’t know of any other options. They where just a week old. Baby babies.

Anyway, it got me reflecting on things that I endured and treasured.

A house that was decorated with drawings from me and my siblings.
– Parents really didn’t care since the house was a mess. But, it did have it’s own dragon. So, that was something.

A car door that didn’t shut. When riding in the back, I had to hold it closed as we were going down the street.

Dad lighting paper inside his truck to get rid of the frost on the windshield.

Mom braiding my hair at five in the morning and watching the 700 Club after she left.

First computer (Commodor 64 that barely worked. Dad got it off someone at work.)

Sweeping sawdust at midnight in a factory.

Working in the cornfields just to make some money.

There’s just so much stuff. More than I could ever go into.

But, I’d like to pretend that now is better than then.
Daily life isn’t as erratic. But, better? I don’t know.

In twenty years, should I live that long, what about today will I fondly remember?
What have I done that defines me or I define it?

Honestly, I’m not sure.