Random Stuff, Illustrated

We spent the afternoon at the sister-in-law's today, which was very nice, although we all got a good look at my father-in-law's declining state. Which was sad. He's slower, mentally, but it's all still there, it just takes him longer to get it out. The real heartbreak is his almost lack of ability to move around at all. He's in a lot of pain all the time (mostly from his back), and mobility is a serious issue. It took him over a half hour to get up from his chair, down the two steps to where his little scooter was waiting, and then to the car, and in the car. And this was with my mother-in-law and three men helping him. So, sad.

In other random news ...

I have this oddly shaped drawer on my desk that I've been stuffing things into for years, and opened it last night to find something (which wasn't there), but I found all kinds of other treasures. All the "coupons" my kids made me, like "good for one hug", and stuff like that. (When I told them today, K said, "Those things expire, you know.") Cards that I've kept. Odd things, like a traffic ticket I got on my first day of work, so that was February 2, 1977. I can never mock my father again for not throwing anything out. (And ... I also found certificates for trees planted in Israel in memory of my grandfather, who died in 1955, so I clearly got those from my father at some point.) Anyway, I found some pictures.

I'm sharing these with you; I don't think I've shared these before. In a way, they're before and after pictures, although I didn't realize that until I started writing. Here's the first one:


Yes, Virginia, at one time I did have some athletic abilities. Here I am in a faculty softball game, so that would have been the last day of school -- June -- 1980. I was at my lowest adult weight, probably about 108, because I had been sick the summer before and unable to eat, and had never gained it back. Yes, that's me in the Harpo-like curly perm. See me catching the ball and my feet are both off the ground? Can you believe it? And if memory serves, I was probably also about 48 hours pregnant at this point, unconfirmed, of course, because there were no home tests then, but I was already sure.

After.


A week or two before Christmas, 1981. We used to have a holiday tea in the library, and I brought baby R in for the occasion. She was nine months old.

This is, I think, my favorite picture of myself ever. Or, more precisely, it's exactly what my image of myself is. This is what I think I look like, wished I look like, whatever. I loved this haircut. I had lost my baby weight, but kept the extra fifteen pounds I needed to keep after being so skinny, so I guess I was around 123. Oh, and the baby, of course, although this was hardly the best picture of her; she was the most adorably photogenic baby of all time. But I digress.

So there you are. There I am. I'm tired now. Long day.



watching THE SIMPSONS :: ENTRY #2076
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