I'm Too Tired To Shower Today

Monday November 16, 1992

I have a hard time getting up. I call the clinic at 9 a.m. The nurse says to come in, she'll check my tube exit to see if it's infected. It's red and tender but no puss. She dresses it and we return home. I'm too tired to shower today. That's so unusual for me. I read. Doris & Helen come over to visit for awhile.

At 5:30 we go out for Mexican dinner. At 7:15 Frank goes square dancing. I insist he go. I watch TV and talk to Paul and Judy for an hour. They called me. Frank comes home about 10:15 with a malt for me from Hudson's Grill. Pam Silverman suggested it for me.

Wow, that is unusual for Mom not to take a shower. Does that mean she didn't do her hair and makeup either? How did she feel when the neighbors came by to visit her? Although I don't spend alot of time on hair and makeup, I do try to take a shower every day. The only time I miss is when I'm too sick to get out of bed.

I am glad that Mom made Frank go square dancing. There's no reason he can't have a little fun when Mom is sick.

Are We Lazy Or What?

Monday November 2, 1992

Awake at 7:30 but Frank is sleeping well until 8:15. He got up a few times during the night to quiet the dogs. It seems like they barked all night. We get up at 9 a.m. Are we getting lazy or what?

I would love to go square dancing tonight, but I just don't have the energy. I spend most of the day paying bills. Doris comes to visit from next door. She brings me flowers. How sweet!

I cannot remember Mom being sick one single day when I was growing up, even though I had plenty of sick days. I always thought it was strange, like Moms don't get sick? Now that I am a Mom myself I realize that Moms do indeed get sick, but my Mom considered it "lazy" to stay in bed whether sick or tired or injured, so every morning, no matter how rough her night or how crummy she felt she would force herself to get up, shower, curl her hair and coat it with hair spray, and put on make-up before she would begin her day.

Animal Shows with Doris

I remember acting not so responsibly one day when my friend and I stripped all the oranges off the orange trees in our yard. We walked all around the neighborhood selling oranges and then we split the profits 50/50. Mother was furious. How could we sell her oranges and my friend get half the money?

This friend, Doris, was always coming up with some childlike ways to make money. We had a large front porch across the front of our house. We would sell tickets to our neighbors for 5 cents and we'd put on a skating show or a play or sing and dance. They must have liked it. They always came. One time Daddy set up the old tent Grandpa had given us on the front lawn and Doris sat inside reading palms and telling fortunes for a price. We had animal shows with our dogs, cats and farm animals. Sometimes we'd get other kids in the neighborhood like the Zovacks next door to join in our performances, but no one was a ham like Doris, who peed her pants every time she laughed too hard, and we did a lot of hard laughing. A strange thing about Doris, she was gang raped when she was 16 and then married one gang member who tried to stop it. Doris was illegitimate and raised by her old grandparents. Her mother was a prostitute and would sometimes come around. I remember she had pretty red hair and lots of jewelry, and she took us out to eat in a bar sometimes.

I have met many of mom's friends, but I never knew Doris. Even though her childhood situation was a sad one, Doris sounds like she was lots of fun. I'm proud of mom for being her friend and I know she must have been very supportive when Doris was raped. I hope Doris' life turned out well.

Above is a photograph of mom in her roller skates around 1940. She loved to roller skate and even knew how to skate backwards.