Don't blame me!
In the beginning…
“What,” you may ask, ”kind of screwed up person writes this drivel and then thinks anyone would be interested in reading it?” My psychiatric records are sealed by court order but I can tell you a little about my beginnings and the people that affected me.
My family; Mom, Pop, and the Kids
Daddy was born in Sandy Hook, Maryland in 1898, making him almost 41 years old when I was hatched, January 15, 1939. He labored as a lithograph pressman for the Federal Tin Company on East Barre St. in Baltimore and was treasurer of the Union local (United Steel Workers). He did not drink liquor, although he might have a cold beer on a hot summer day. He smoked Lucky Strike cigarettes until he was 65, then quit cold turkey. He went to his reward at age 79.
Momma was two years younger than dad, still a little old to be having kids. She claimed “somewhere in Virginia” as her birthplace (since her actual birthplace, Philadelphia, PA would possibly brand her as a Yankee). Two years after I was born, along came the twins (Katy and Susie). Momma had her hands full. It was her second marriage and she was raising my half-brother, C. B., who was 13 when I was born. Most of the time she was employed in various accounting jobs where she was a whiz on the modern day apparatus called the comptometer.” No smoking, no drinking. Coffee and tea. She fed us well with down-home country cookin’, usually with enough leftovers for another meal. After father died, she remained a widow, living alone, until her passing in 1999, one year short of living the entire 20th century. What changes she had seen.
Big Brother. C. B. has always been my hero. Born in 1926, he enlisted (illegally at age 16) in the US Navy during the BIG ONE, WW II, and served aboard a “destroyer” in the Pacific. Attacks by kamakazis no doubt maimed and killed several of his buddies. Apparently he coped with these tragedies by never telling “war stories.” He sent money home for my first two wheel bike and always came home on leave with a couple of cartons of “Luckies” for Dad. After the war he went to work for the telephone company, where he stayed until he retired. He never drank, never smoked, and never fooled around with women. His only “real” marriage (having been duped earlier by a false claim of pregnancy) has lasted since 1954. Unfortunately for the world, he had no progeny. His second love, after Mabel, his wife, has always been cars. The first one I remember was a Crosley, which seemed to be about half the size of a VW bug. Then came the convertibles and sports cars. He had one of the first Corvettes and until this day I think has a working Corvair (“unsafe at any speed” R. Nader). Today, he and Mabel are living on the eastern shore of Maryland.
The Twins. Katy and Susie. Born in Baltimore March 22, 1941. They were inseperable and had little need for me. I, in turn rejected them from most of my more “mature” activities unless it suited my purposes, of course. It was not until we all were grown up and married that we had any kind of a real relationship. Neither of them ever smoked or drank. Unlike me (3 weddings and as many divorces) they took their first spouses till death do them part. Unfortunately, Katy’s husband was a heavy smoker and died of cancer in his late 40’s. They had 3 kids, two boys and one girl. Susie and her husband “Willy” are living in North Carolina (his home state) with several bulldogs in residence. They have a boy and a girl. Sadly, when mother died the twins became estranged over the settlement of mother’s “estate,” such as it was. Today they are not on speaking terms. I weep for them.
These are the people who helped me become what I am today. Perhaps I can blame them. I know it’s not my fault. Them and that electronic implant the government put in my teeth when I was sedated.
“What,” you may ask, ”kind of screwed up person writes this drivel and then thinks anyone would be interested in reading it?” My psychiatric records are sealed by court order but I can tell you a little about my beginnings and the people that affected me.
My family; Mom, Pop, and the Kids
Daddy was born in Sandy Hook, Maryland in 1898, making him almost 41 years old when I was hatched, January 15, 1939. He labored as a lithograph pressman for the Federal Tin Company on East Barre St. in Baltimore and was treasurer of the Union local (United Steel Workers). He did not drink liquor, although he might have a cold beer on a hot summer day. He smoked Lucky Strike cigarettes until he was 65, then quit cold turkey. He went to his reward at age 79.
Momma was two years younger than dad, still a little old to be having kids. She claimed “somewhere in Virginia” as her birthplace (since her actual birthplace, Philadelphia, PA would possibly brand her as a Yankee). Two years after I was born, along came the twins (Katy and Susie). Momma had her hands full. It was her second marriage and she was raising my half-brother, C. B., who was 13 when I was born. Most of the time she was employed in various accounting jobs where she was a whiz on the modern day apparatus called the comptometer.” No smoking, no drinking. Coffee and tea. She fed us well with down-home country cookin’, usually with enough leftovers for another meal. After father died, she remained a widow, living alone, until her passing in 1999, one year short of living the entire 20th century. What changes she had seen.
Big Brother. C. B. has always been my hero. Born in 1926, he enlisted (illegally at age 16) in the US Navy during the BIG ONE, WW II, and served aboard a “destroyer” in the Pacific. Attacks by kamakazis no doubt maimed and killed several of his buddies. Apparently he coped with these tragedies by never telling “war stories.” He sent money home for my first two wheel bike and always came home on leave with a couple of cartons of “Luckies” for Dad. After the war he went to work for the telephone company, where he stayed until he retired. He never drank, never smoked, and never fooled around with women. His only “real” marriage (having been duped earlier by a false claim of pregnancy) has lasted since 1954. Unfortunately for the world, he had no progeny. His second love, after Mabel, his wife, has always been cars. The first one I remember was a Crosley, which seemed to be about half the size of a VW bug. Then came the convertibles and sports cars. He had one of the first Corvettes and until this day I think has a working Corvair (“unsafe at any speed” R. Nader). Today, he and Mabel are living on the eastern shore of Maryland.
The Twins. Katy and Susie. Born in Baltimore March 22, 1941. They were inseperable and had little need for me. I, in turn rejected them from most of my more “mature” activities unless it suited my purposes, of course. It was not until we all were grown up and married that we had any kind of a real relationship. Neither of them ever smoked or drank. Unlike me (3 weddings and as many divorces) they took their first spouses till death do them part. Unfortunately, Katy’s husband was a heavy smoker and died of cancer in his late 40’s. They had 3 kids, two boys and one girl. Susie and her husband “Willy” are living in North Carolina (his home state) with several bulldogs in residence. They have a boy and a girl. Sadly, when mother died the twins became estranged over the settlement of mother’s “estate,” such as it was. Today they are not on speaking terms. I weep for them.
These are the people who helped me become what I am today. Perhaps I can blame them. I know it’s not my fault. Them and that electronic implant the government put in my teeth when I was sedated.
posted by revsnodgrass | 3:29 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home