3/4th of a Century

3/4th of a Century represents my age, as I will be 75 years old (young? Never understood why some folks refer to older folks as '75 years young'.), the Lord willing, on my upcoming September 6th birthday.  OK, this is only January 14, 2016, but I always think of myself at the future age I will become, once I am in that year.

During this time, the country (USA) has gone from a rather conservative position, (at least where I lived as a young child, which at earliest memory was in rural Pennsylvania) through a very promiscuous 'free love' time in the 1960's, and then returned to a conservative point, and am not quite sure what you would call it, today.  Probably location dependent.  Which may always have been the case.  I did move more than most, especially for not having been military connected, either by parentage or marriage, during the earlier part of my life.  In the past 34 years, however, it has been somewhat related to military, as that is the time span of my current (fourth, give or take one) marriage to a Navy career man, now retired from the Navy, and have settled, so far, in one place for the past 10 years.

My concentration this morning is to be on the deaths of loved ones that I have endured, over all these years.  Some terribly tragic ones, and some less so, but none fit the category of 'old age' or 'natural causes.'  (Is there ever such a thing?) 

My earliest memory of a loved one's passing is that of my paternal Great Grandma Shimer.  She died of Diabetes.  I remember meeting & seeing  her only once, and I was 4 years old.  She was the biggest (& by that I mean "fattest") person I had ever met, by then.  Her husband, my Great Grandpa Reverend George Shimer was quite a small man, as evidenced in a photo standing next to me when I was 8 years old.  That was taken when his daughter, my Grandma Madeline Shimer, passed away.  I accompanied my mother to Hagerstown, MD, from Rockville, PA (an unincorporated area outside South Fork, which was a small town, with closest larger city Johnstown.) but was not permitted to go to the funeral.  Family thought I should remember her as she was when alive & not the site of her in a casket.  Mother disagreed, but was over-ruled.  I had wanted to go, but at that age rarely had any say in what I got to do. 

Grandma Madeline died from an allergic reaction to a Wasp Bite on her big toe!  My dad refused to agree to an autopsy, but that was the doctor's position. 

Very shortly after that, I met my Daddy's father, Earl Atwood Van Vechten, when he came to Rockville to visit my mother & I where we lived at her mother's and step-father's home.  Of that visit I mainly remember throwing a ball, in the living room, and he was sitting in a chair and it hit him in the head.  Later when I was told of his death, and they said it was caused by a Brain Aneurism I wondered if it was my fault?  Of course they told me that it wasn't.  It was years later that he had died, but that was how my mind and memory went. 

Then my mother remarried when I was 8 1/2 years old and the three of us moved to Johnstown.  I was in the second half of the third grade by then, and that was to be the first change of schools which turned out to be a total of 15 schools in the 11 years of my school grades.  Although it was at the end of my 10th grade in high school that I was put on a plane & sent to Dallas, TX to get married at age 16 to the first boy to ask me; he was 17.  James Royce Braley and I had met on my last weekend in Dallas before being flown to NJ by my father, after my begging him nearly a solid year to 'get me out of the "Hell hole" I found myself in.  My mother had sent me to live with my dad & step-mother in 1954 when she hitch-hiked, alone, from Johnstown, PA to Dallas, TX.  The doctors had told her she would not live through another PA winter, and that she needed to go to a warmer climate location for her health.  In PA she had Bronchitis & Pneumonia most winters, and they were becoming more sever as she aged.  She had asthma since age four. When I was in the 7th grade the doctor came to the house (not unusual for back then, in rural areas, especially) to treat her & told me I needed to stay home from school to take care of her and that I could go to school when she was 'dead and gone.' 

... to be continued

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Yep, that was what I saw when I clicked on the correct options! It worked! Guess it is like riding a bike, not that I am going to go try that, now! I haven't even been to the basement, lately, to ride the Stationary Exercise Bike down there next to the Treadmill, which is getting equally dusty. Well, I actually managed to get there once a week in February, but I was supposed to be exercising once a Day, not Week. Procrastination again.

So? What have I been doing? Combination of reading and when I can't concentrate, watching movies on the computer, on-line. There are some Free Classic Movie web sites that I found thru my "Computer Guru," Kim Komando (I subscribe to her Newsletters) at www.KimKomando.com
) and watch TV when I can find anything 'good.'

Anything But writing, I guess. Not even writing or replying to any Blogs.

"Sandy's Wisdom." Figure out a way to take "Action," not Procrastinate." I do know one thing, the brain does not 'do' the negative. Meaning, we need to take "Action," DO a positive, not simply tell ourselves "not" to do something. What I am saying is that if we simply tell ourselves "Not to Procrastinate," all our brains 'hear' is "Procrastinate," we eliminate the "not" part. Make sense? The concept may not, but it is true, none the less. What I am asking is if my explaination is making sense? Sometimes it is actually quite difficult (in English, which is my only language) to present / say something and be sure it is understood in the exact way I intend it.

Been away Way Too Long

Marja has an interview with a fellow Blogger on facebook this morning, and reading that led me to here, since I am one of her 73 Blog Followers. Just look at the dates of when I was last on here & my friends posted replies here! 2008, and this is 2012. Speaking of Procrastination! Whoa, I must be the "Queen of Procrastination," and I am not sure I am even spelling it correctly.

Last, which was also first, Blog was about setting this thing up, and the progress throughout the years with regard to writing and cooking, etc. Today I find myself ready to bake a Cherry Pie. Tomorrow is my Oak Harbor, WA girlfriend (we are both 70, but we can still call one another "girl" friends, right? "Women or Woman friend" just does Not 'get' it, for me!) Carol's birthday, actually she will be 71, as I will be also this year. She & Bobbi (one of the two first Blogger Replies on here) & Cindy (my daughter who does Not read nor reply to Blogs, as far as I know) all like my Cherry Pies, but Cindy is celebrating hers and Ernie's Eleventh Wedding Anniversary today & she works tomorrow, so she won't be around to eat any, and Bobbi lives way over in Marysville (close to two hour drive from us) and I haven't seen her since last 4th of July! Still, I will bake two pies, so I can get one to Carol's home & have one here for Berry (my husband) & I. It is the only thing I bake now. I haven't baked a cake for eons. Berry used to bake Banana Nut Bread, from scratch. He also made his "Famous" Lemon Merange (sp?) Meriangue ? Pies. He actually made the pie crust from "scratch." My pie crusts are the pre-made (?) ones found in the freezer compartment of grocery stores. I do use Sour Cherries in a can, sugar, Tapiacio (sp?) and Almond Extract, however. (As compared to a can of Comstock Cherries for Cherry Pies.)

Wonder if anyone will read or reply to this. Gonna see if I can still figure out how to post it.

Managing "Blogs"

Still trying to learn how to do all this stuff! Remember, I was Not raised on or with computers. In my childhood we used ink wells in holes on wooden classroom desks, connected (seat in front was 'fast' (fastened) to the desk of one behind) to dip our "buds" (? If that is the correct term for the metal thingie we attached to a slender (? holder? no idea what that was called!) handle and used "Ink Blotters" to absorb any extra ink that came off the 'point' as we attempted to learn "Handwriting." Yep, we had an actual class, in third grade, titled; "Handwriting." I remember I earned an "A" in that one, even won an "Award" for "Excellent Handwriting." :-)
Yes, I "pre-date" the Ballpoint Pen! Now, this is not to be mistaken for a "Quill Pen," like they used when the Constitution of the United States was signed! Just attempting to bring this whole "computer" stuff into perspective. Even "typewriting!" In high school we Had to pass the course of "Typewriting" with at least a Passing Grade; typing speed of 30 Words Per Minute-and that was on an Old Manual Typewriter, Way before the Electric Typewriter, let alone the Word Processors that first came out as a "Stand alone" object. Lastly came the computer! I figure I still have been born too soon, as I think in my lifetime we will just Speak to our computers and they will transfer the word to the typed page, and for those who prefer, we could simply "Handwrite" on a pad or screen, flat on our desks, and have that 'handwriting' transferred to the typed page; providing we still want typewritten pages. Look at the Electronic Books already! We don't even Have to purchase a "Bound Paper Book" to read a book; simply purchase one of several brands of these Electronic Books, and "Download" the book directly into our hand-held "Readers." I, personally, would Love to have one for Christmas, but considering this is the 21st Century, and the other day, as I sat with my wooden cutting board, and a knife, cutting up vegetables like celery and carrots for a salad, I realized that there are electric 'things' in production for Years and even Decades now that "Cut up these vegetables" for us, but here I am Still using a cutting board and a knife! Guess I should be happy I have an electric mixer, and am not still "Beating stuff" for 200 beats with an old wooden spoon! (Truly, the old cookbooks had those instructions in them!) So, hopefully, this is going to appear where I want it to appear, as a "Blog entry" that folks can read and respond to, by some such method, that, hopefully, They will be able to figure out!