Dear Readers,
The pandemic has caused me to daydream about my childhood experiences. My memories seem to flood back in full color and sometimes there is a sensory overload.
I think that I smell my mother’s Avon perfume and I sense the comfort. She tried her hand at selling Avon during our Brooklyn, NY days. I remember ripping the little square sample packets that had thin cotton pieces soaked with different delicious-smelling perfumes. We did not dare try the little tubes of vivid pink and red lipstick. My mother would have none of that and we were all too aware of the consequences. My mother was always put together and I thought she was the most beautiful exquisite woman in the world.
Since I have turned off the television, I find that the memories seem to become more and more vivid as I settle into the quietness of my day. My mother only let us watch television on the weekend. The other days were spent getting ready for school and doing homework.
I was a very reserved and shy child but I had an impeccable memory and read any and everything I could get my hands on. I was so bored with the Dr. Seuss books so I started reading other things.
During breakfast, I always had a cereal box in front of my face. However, if there was a toy in the box, I had to wait until my younger brother dug down to the bottom to retrieve it. I was always mortified thinking about his little grubby hands all over the cereal.
My mother hardly ever bought cereal with sugar in it. However, at least twice a year, my mother would buy sugary cereal and place it on the very top shelf of the wooden built-in cabinets. The top shelf was reserved for sugary foods. I never understood how my parents never figured that we would just get a chair, push it up to the slippery white laminate countertop edged with a metal band and search. It was a combined effort to get up there to see what we could find. The fear of getting caught was more palpable than the sweet taste of sugar on our tongues. My mother was a “come here let me smell your face” kind of mother. She ran a tight ship but she was gorgeous while doing it.
The prize
My brother was usually the first to get everything. He was the only boy and I guess that was the way it was supposed to be. He was my best friend growing up because he was so close to me in age and despite our ups and downs through life, I absolutely adore him.
My brother would hand the box back to me with the “I got the prize” grin. I would read the whole box, including the ingredients. Being the second oldest in a family of four children was tough when it came to getting something special. But reading the cereal boxes helped me impress my third grade teacher as I explained the ingredients on the Wheaties box to her. I was great in 3rd grade science. My time at PS 273 was exceptional. My best memories are about people who cared and believed in me.
Discover the positives in your life and share with others. Life is so beautiful.
Love people,
