I have a lot of memories from childhood, some good, some bad. My father died in Vietnam in Feb. '65. That hit me very hard - he was a very funny, smart guy and loved cars, music, racing, audio equipment, Hamm's beer. He bought me a tricycle with a plastic engine that looked and sounded like a Harley, thanks to batteries and a speaker.
My mom was able to keep it together and was all over me like white on rice. She knew everything, including what I was thinking of doing, before I thought of it. One time we were in a grocery store and I saw the first black man I'd ever seen, he was very dark. I said, "Mom! Look! That man is covered in grease!" He started laughing his ass off, my mom was mortified and dropped her basket and grabbed me, apologized to him and dragged me out of there! All the way home, I was asking "How? Why? Where?" and she explained the difference in skin color, including a continent called Africa and the Sun's relationship to the equator, etc. She knew better than to say, "Never mind" or "because I said so!"
Another time, about 6 or 7, I woke up and was convinced I was actually the son of Queen Elizabeth and I was the younger brother of Prince Charles. My mom wasn't convinced. She had told me long before, "If you're walking down the street and you hear a baby crying in a dumpster, don't open the dumpster and take the baby out. It will ruin your life, just like you ruined mine. I should have left you in that dumpster." So she reminded me she found me in a dumpster. I said, "Exactly! The Queen mum had an affair with an Asian member of the household, so rather than admit it, they put me in a dumpster to hide my birth." Mom said, "I don't know where you got this idea, but the Queen lives in England, and I found you in a dumpster in Oakland. Now eat your breakfast before it gets cold."
I insisted that she call Buckingham Palace and inform them that I had been found and they needed to come get me immediately. Mom said, "I'll see what I can do." When I asked what she found out at dinnertime, she said, "I managed to get in touch with the Royal Secretary who categorically denies the existence of any illegitimate child. Sorry, you'll just have to settle for this palace."
:lol:
I don't know where that idea came from, probably some wild dream. Mom didn't believe in "proportional response." Even the smallest infraction resulted in a nuclear response. 3 minutes late for dinner resulted in a belt whooping that made it impossible to sit for at least a day or two. She was only 4'11" and 94 lbs, but she could swing a belt like Babe Ruth swung a bat and she was always ready to hit a home run!
One day, I was probably 7 yrs old, she aid, "Promise me something." "What, mom?" "Promise first, then I'll tell you." "OK mom, I promise." "OK, promise me that no matter how bad things get when I get old, you will never put me in a nursing home. You will move me in your home and take care of me. If necessary, you'll change my diapers." "Why would you be wearing diapers?" "Sometimes it happens when people get really old. I changed your diapers for a couple of years, so it's only fair you change mine if needed." "Mom, I don't know if it works that way. I'm supposed to get married, have kids and change their diapers..." "SHUT UP!! YOU ALREADY PROMISED!!"
In 2010, she came down with Alzheimer's and I moved her in. For the next almost 8 yrs, we got closer than ever before. She remembered events from 40 or 50 yrs ago like yesterday, but not yesterday. She told me stories about my father from before my birth. My grandparents had disowned her when she started dating a gaijin (foreigner), but when I was born 5 or 6 yrs later, grandma had a change of heart and wanted us back in the family. Allegedly, grandpa asked grandma, "We disowned her, why do you want her back now?" She answered, "Don't be stupid! She has our first born grandchild!" Mom started reverting to speaking some Japanese, which she was still fluent. English became a little harder for her to find the correct words. She finally admitted that she loved me, I was her favorite kid and she really liked my cooking. She also laughed at all of my stupid "dad jokes" every day, because she didn't remember them from the day before. :lol: