I loved your sharing, Agnes! Hard, but wonderful, and comparable to my parents stories, but in a different country, some much harder actually including natural disasters.
One thing I wanted to comment was I remember my mother talking about the rain water, and having the luxury of rinsing your hair in it, as it made the softest hair. She always sang the song "Playmates" to me when I was little, about shouting down one's rain barrel and sliding down one's cellar door . . . My two children are over two decades apart, and I volunteered to read to the class. I would choose stories with themes (because I thought priorities were missing in this affluent school system), so one theme would be excerpts about orphans (Pollyanna, Heidi, Pippi Longstockings, etc.), and another sitting virtue themed (starting with the Boy Who Cried Wolf, and going on from there about integrity). At the end of one session, I commented about my young daughter's grandfather telling her he had two toys when he grew up. Their interest was piqued and they leaned a tad forward in their chairs as I paused . . . "a stick and a rock!" I exclaimed, and the teacher who was to retire the next year, roared with laughter and appreciation. Then I told about how with my son we would always take a simple object like a cup, or a stick, and imagine all the things it could be or made into, service it could render, until exhaustion. So much of this is being lost. I have laughed at myself when the remote control has slipped beneath the cushions somewhere and I have to get up to attend to the TV. How lazy I have become! Now kids don't want to go look things up in a dictionary, but rather use the computer. If one takes the effort to look it up, they will surely remember it more as they have invested in it, vs. a quick search tends to go in one ear, and out the other! My mother would never answer my question, and I was forced to put forth the effort to find the answer. When the encyclopedia and dictionary did not have it, then I was told to call my grandmother, as she read everything she could get her hands on her whole life, and knew everything! Best, Susan Reishus To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected].
