Momma moved at lightning speed... strapping Chanty Boy in the back & laying Curt sound asleep, thumb in his mouth, on his side on the vinyl next to him.
I was small, real small ... but I was awake.
'Get in' she said, holding the front passenger door open. The late 1960's and a four door sedan... mother & toddler chit-chatting it up on a impromptu roadtrip. Before I knew it, we were there.
At Nana's... a 'lovely' place to be, where clovers grew like monkey grass & flowers had petals of velvet, garages had no doors & inside doors slid in and out of the wall, where rotary dial phones were in the kitchen & colored the same as the appliances...a a dark seafoam teal, where Bob Barker was always on the tv, murals were painted on the walls & Nana's loving spirit filled us all.
'Go outside & water the flowers. I have to talk to your Nana.'
Meandering back in through the door that we never used moments later...
'Honey, you can't come back home to your mother & father. You have to go back home...to the one you made with your husband & your children.'
I indian-footed back out of ear shot. I had never heard Nana's voice without a light-hearted ring in it before. Instinctively I knew not only that her words were not for my ears, but also that my ears didn't want them.
Before it got to be dark, Momma gathered us up.
'Momma, aren't we staying the night? We always get to spend the night.'
'Not tonight baby...we're going back home.'
And she put me in the backseat with Curt & Chantyboy.
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7 years ago
7 comments:
Aw, snap! Darling, that hurt the heart.
What is Indian-footing? I assume it is being light on the feet.. I've just started reading Made in America by Bill Bryson and damn, the Indians never stood a chance.
Aw Orhan darling...it wasn't meant to be hurtful!
It was just one of my very first memories of Curt & Chanty boy and one of only a few of the life from the house I was born in.
Ironically enough, I remember the car ride, my mother & grandmother most clearly.
My parents have been married over 52 years now & this faint memory reveals, on some levels, how they made that marriage last.
Aw, that's a sad moment. But I'm glad it passed. You guys' memories amaze me. I have almost no recollection of anything in my life before the age of 12-couple of school memories but no home ones.
skinny beautifully writes another beautiful moment.
welcome back, girl. i've missed you.
xo
you are sublime! -i am lifted to read such a powerful story captured in a few brilliant paragraphs.. the value of five stories in one..
if i turn into a publisher.. it's in large part because of you and that sister of yours
much love, ~s.
karma~ Lol, i am gonna bury this post. I really didn't realize it was sad. The older I get, the less I seem to retain...so it's as if I have more memories from my childhood than my adulthood. Memories are funny things.
kj~ Thank you...I may be fleeting though. I worked 52+ hours this week & when you throw commute time in there, it becomes astronomical ...at least to me. I think I'd rather have 2 part time jobs local...but I gotta have that health insurance :(
she~i have to tell you something... after encountering about 2700- in vet bills, i found myself runting around the house for change when I remembered by beach fund mug. Tightly folded up in there was a bill with the words 'she believes' written on it in permi-marker...along with a heart & a peace sign. I scrunched in deep into my pocket & then went out & fetched myself some chicken. Truly, you are a gift that keeps on giving in so many ways. TY&ML.
Sweet SLB....I've been here dozens, if not tens of dozens of times, and missed this post all together, like, I swear it didnt show on my screen....
but I was there....
in Nana's kitchen
turqoise and white
and remember
the words
you remember
exactly as
you tell them....
and the ride home
in the ford fairlane
four hours of backroads
and the last last-minute trip...
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