Me at 6 mo. old
Growing up as an only child, to some, might seem to be the ultimate of happiness, never having to share your clothes, car, girlfriend or toys with anyone. It was, at times, the ultimate and then other times it was just one pain in the butt, no one to play in the sandbox with, no one to tell your little secrets to, plus there was so much that you had to live up to.
I'm sure that in my parents first touch of me, they could feel the joy of what parenting was all about..... but.....I wonder what they thought when I reached 2 years old,.....13 years old.....21 years old and upward. I can only imagine, since now both parents are gone and I can't even confirm my thoughts.
OH WELL...perhaps if I could arrange a seance it would go like this!
In my moms' eyes that first touch brought tears of happiness to her. "Oh, my little boy, He will grow up to be a hunk, I know, I can feel it. He probably will be a doctor, invent penicillin and become world famous. Girls from around the world will adore him, but he will only be true to the feelings I will pass on to him.......... No! he will become President of the United States and Kings, Queens and other Presidents will search him out to advise them on world issues......He does need company though, a little sister would help so that he doesn't grow up alone."
Now, on my father first touch, it brought a totally different prospective.
"AH!...... my son, this little guy will carry on the family name. I got my son, nothing else matters. Time to tie a yellow ribbon round this old oak tree. This guy will be an athletic phenomenon, a golfer world renown he will be.... and have girls from around the world searching him out for his affection. NO! maybe a handsome world renowned sports agent earning millions off of other people. NAH! ....... OO!......... OO!....... I got it, a plumber who can charge extremely high hourly prices and double charges for after hours, week-ends and holidays....... A sister.........give me a break.........never happen."
Well, it turned out that none of the above applied, but growing up, learning and experiencing life has been a total joy. No matter where I've been, what I've done, both my parents always seemed proud of me.
At 2 years old, the terrible twosome years. I can only visualize that my mom would dress me up in my little white suit with short pants and take me for a walk around the neighborhood to show me off to her lady friends and their little girls, looking for someone she thought would be compatible to have my name Mrs.Doctor R.... or Mrs. First Lady R........
She would brag how neat and well groomed a person I am, how polite and sophisticated I was for my young age......, and he will only get better with age. How well adjusted I was. " What kind of dowry does your little girl have? 3 sheep, 2 goats and a partridge in a pear tree?? ...........................any money attached to that?"
My dad on the other hand wanted me to wear golfing knickers.....(no way in hell).... and carry a nine iron over my shoulder or a putter under my arm, or maybe a wrench in the back pocket of my plumbers pants that hung down to just above the crack in my beautifully shaped butt. Now the truth of the matter is, I was a spoiled brat and would scream and yell if I didn't get what I wanted, until my dad would take my hand and squeeze it like hell, welding my fingers together. The big guy, taught this trick to my mom and so no more screamin' and yellin' after 2 1/2.
Thirteen found new life in me. I was growing up now. Started to look at life through another side of the spectrum. Guess the Gemini was starting to show or perhaps this is the beginning of my adult life. Noticed my voice was becoming deeper. I was always under the impression that 18years old was that point. I guess it was about 2 years prior, that I came out of elementary school into Junior High. This was something totally new. Not only did my friends from Franklin elementary come along but I also met new people from Hewlett, elementary and Woodmere elementary. Making new friends was not very difficult for me but now I found other interesting things. Sports became a big part of my life, even though I was just a mediocre player compared to some of the other players coming out of the other schools.
OH WELL...perhaps if I could arrange a seance it would go like this!
In my moms' eyes that first touch brought tears of happiness to her. "Oh, my little boy, He will grow up to be a hunk, I know, I can feel it. He probably will be a doctor, invent penicillin and become world famous. Girls from around the world will adore him, but he will only be true to the feelings I will pass on to him.......... No! he will become President of the United States and Kings, Queens and other Presidents will search him out to advise them on world issues......He does need company though, a little sister would help so that he doesn't grow up alone."
Now, on my father first touch, it brought a totally different prospective.
"AH!...... my son, this little guy will carry on the family name. I got my son, nothing else matters. Time to tie a yellow ribbon round this old oak tree. This guy will be an athletic phenomenon, a golfer world renown he will be.... and have girls from around the world searching him out for his affection. NO! maybe a handsome world renowned sports agent earning millions off of other people. NAH! ....... OO!......... OO!....... I got it, a plumber who can charge extremely high hourly prices and double charges for after hours, week-ends and holidays....... A sister.........give me a break.........never happen."
Well, it turned out that none of the above applied, but growing up, learning and experiencing life has been a total joy. No matter where I've been, what I've done, both my parents always seemed proud of me.
At 2 years old, the terrible twosome years. I can only visualize that my mom would dress me up in my little white suit with short pants and take me for a walk around the neighborhood to show me off to her lady friends and their little girls, looking for someone she thought would be compatible to have my name Mrs.Doctor R.... or Mrs. First Lady R........
She would brag how neat and well groomed a person I am, how polite and sophisticated I was for my young age......, and he will only get better with age. How well adjusted I was. " What kind of dowry does your little girl have? 3 sheep, 2 goats and a partridge in a pear tree?? ...........................any money attached to that?"
My dad on the other hand wanted me to wear golfing knickers.....(no way in hell).... and carry a nine iron over my shoulder or a putter under my arm, or maybe a wrench in the back pocket of my plumbers pants that hung down to just above the crack in my beautifully shaped butt. Now the truth of the matter is, I was a spoiled brat and would scream and yell if I didn't get what I wanted, until my dad would take my hand and squeeze it like hell, welding my fingers together. The big guy, taught this trick to my mom and so no more screamin' and yellin' after 2 1/2.
Thirteen found new life in me. I was growing up now. Started to look at life through another side of the spectrum. Guess the Gemini was starting to show or perhaps this is the beginning of my adult life. Noticed my voice was becoming deeper. I was always under the impression that 18years old was that point. I guess it was about 2 years prior, that I came out of elementary school into Junior High. This was something totally new. Not only did my friends from Franklin elementary come along but I also met new people from Hewlett, elementary and Woodmere elementary. Making new friends was not very difficult for me but now I found other interesting things. Sports became a big part of my life, even though I was just a mediocre player compared to some of the other players coming out of the other schools.
We didn't have organized sports as they do today, no T-Ball, no little league, just sandlot. Choose up sides, pick me type of sports. I never got picked first but as time went by you could almost bet I would be picked 2nd or 3rd.
I found more interest in more diverse things and that intrigued me. Leading into High school I was now an established part of a specific group and that grew as time went by. Those were truly happy days. My mom and dad always enjoyed when kids were over at our house. I can remember my mom, occasionally on a Friday night after basketball games, baking pizza for the gang at my house. It was like a mini pizza shop, the swinging door between the kitchen and the dining room would swing open and another pizza would show up. My house, became a hub of sort.
LONELINESS, then and now was and is ...............just a word...............the past filled with such great memories and the future with such great anticipation. Real friendships truly last a lifetime.
High School was now over, I did not get my fully paid scholarship to Princeton or as a matter of fact any other school of my choice, as if my parents could even afford it if I did but I had a car and I had a dream. My parents, over the years, probably realized that I would not be a doctor or President so they started to prepare me for life in another way.......they bought me a wrench!! The big clue came, when my chemistry teacher requested a meeting with my mother. At this summit, he sort of insisted that she encourage me NOT to continue in this class, that there just was not a budget for a destroyed chemistry lab. President? of what? ..........the United States......our United States?? Have you possibly though about him being a plumber??
They instilled upon me, that I should always treat people as I wanted people to treat me, along with the idea that knowledge is not necessarily what one knows but what one wants to know. You can always find the answers to questions somewhere. Guess that was the reason for the set of encyclopedias that my parents gave me during my sophomore year. Funny thing, I still have that set.....but now.....I truly know everything. The little I don't know I can always Google.
It's amazing how things, now a days are just basically replicas of days gone by. I had a typewriter and a set of encyclopedias. While I typed I could look up information. Now I have a word processor and Google. I can do the same thing.......... Erase it, no problem, now I can simply backspace and delete, back then backspace and white out paper was used. In the old days, some would have a portable typewriter to carry around. Now, you can carry your laptop. Back then, you had party-line telephones, now we have conference calling. OH ! how we marvel over present day technology, Today it's facebook or twitter, yesteryear it was a nosey neighbor. Things just move faster now.
..........bottomline.............lonliness is only a word.
