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| REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST by Taurus |
| 12-21-06
Here it was winter again and I still didn’t have any gloves to wear or for that matter any boots. I knew if I went out to play I was going to get extremely cold. The rest of my family was sitting around the kitchen table playing monopoly. I was so tired of that game because it was played over and over again. Whenever the game wore out my aunt always got us another one at Christmas. Year after year this is what her present to us was. We always expected it. I decided I was going to go out so I put my coat on and wrapped a scarf on my head and tied it under my chin. I put two pairs of socks on my feet and got another pair for my hands. I put my shoes on and headed to the door. As I opened the door the freezing cold hit me and I backed up and closed the door. I guess I wasn’t going out after all. I took the scarf off my head and untied my shoes and took the socks off. I hung my coat up and went to the kitchen to get some hot chocolate. My brother Earl was making him a cup so I asked him if he would make me a cup too. “Make your own, stupid! I’m not waiting on you! ” I figured I would at least have him get me a cup since they were up too high for me to reach. “Can you get me a cup? I will make my own hot chocolate if you get me one?” He said okay and reached up and got me a small cup. He left to go back to playing monopoly. I turned the knob on the front burner of the gas stove and was getting a match to light it. My uncle Mac who lived with us came in and said he would do it for me. He lit the burner and went to the fridge to get milk and turned just in time to see that the flame on the stove had went out. He turned the knob off and then turned it back on struck a match to it but it would not light. He tried again and turned the knob off then on again and as he put the flame to the burner it blasted fire toward us and then the flames went everywhere on the stove. I was so scared I screamed and ran for help. My sisters and brothers who were playing monopoly came running in as my uncle Mac was taking a towel and hitting the fire only making it worse. When my mother entered the kitchen she screamed at him to stop doing that but he kept it up yelling at her, “I know what I’m doing, I’ll get it out!” My mother had called the fire department and I could hear the sirens getting closer. My uncle would not stop swatting the fire and the flames grew bigger and started to rise to the ceiling. My mother got close to him and jerked the towel out of his hand just as the firemen appeared in the room. They made him move out of the way but he still kept saying, “I could have got the fire out if all of you would have left me alone!” My mother thanked the firemen for putting the fire out and they left. She then turned her anger toward my uncle (her brother). “Just what do you think you were doing! You could have burned every one of us up with the know- it- all of yours. I don’t want you to ever touch the stove again unless I’m in here with you!” My uncle got mad and said he was going to move out and my mother told him, “ Go ahead! Then I’ll know you won’t be here to put my children in jeopardy!” Of course my uncle never moved out and he never went near the stove again either. He knew what my mother would do to him. Reflections of the Past 5-19-06 As we were walking down the street, my mother had to hold Dolly with one hand and Henry with the other one while Jean, Kay, Joey and I walked behind her. We were all going to the movies. It was a day out with our mother. The girl at the ticket window took the money and motioned for us to go into the door on the right. As soon as we entered the lobby the smell of the popcorn was too much. “Can we have some popcorn, mommy?” asked Henry. Mom bought an extra large box. We found our seats and the lights went out and the movie began. We took turns holding the box of popcorn until it was all gone. It was so dark in the theater and it scared me a little but I reached over and held my mothers hand and felt better. She was interested in the movie. Steve Allen and Jane Meadows were in the movie but I didn’t know the name but it was funny. Jean looked over and whispered, “Where’s dolly?” I looked around and I didn’t see her either “I don’t know!” I said. My mother looked at each of us like she was counting to make sure we were all there. Jean happened to look under the seat in front of her and whispered, “I see her!” Jean got up and walked down two aisles and found Dolly under a man’s seat. Dolly was under there all right. The man jumped like he had been stung and looked under his seat. Dolly had bit the man’s leg and was going to the next person to bite when Jean grabbed her from under the seat. She apologized to the man and said it wouldn’t happen again. Dolly was watched throughout the movie. We all had a good time that day. When it was time to go home my mother made sure we were all together before we walked out of the theater. A few weeks later Jean took Dolly to see another movie. As Jean was interested in the movie Dolly was crawling under the seats. Believe it or not she bit the same man’s leg again. Jean had to apologize for a second time and never took Dolly to the movies again after that. More Reflections of the past in the next issue. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST 5-12-06 While sitting on the front steps with my brother Earl and my sister Dolly a few of our friends happened to come by to talk. We were laughing and telling jokes when Earl jumped up and yelled, “Look at that car, did you ever see anything like it before?” As I turned to look, it pulled up and parked behind another car. “What a strange looking car and who in the world is driving the thing?” asked John, one of our friends. The car had only one door on the driver’s side and could only hold one person and maybe a small suitcase or a bag. There was no trunk and I had no idea where the engine was. It did have four small tires. It was the smallest car I had ever seen. The door opens and out comes Jason (a cousin of ours). He had a rough time getting out since he was so tall. He yelled to Earl, “Can you keep an eye on my car while I run across the street to see someone?” Earl came off the stairs and walked to the car. He said, “yea I’ll watch it for you!” All we had to do was just stand there and look over the top of it and we seen the whole car that’s how small it was. I was talking to a friend about the car when I heard the laughter of a few friends. As I turned to look I couldn’t believe my eyes. Earl and two other boys actually picked the car off the curb and began to walk up the stairs of the porch with it. Dolly and I followed behind them yelling, “What in the world are you doing?” By the time we got up the stairs they had dropped the car right in the middle of the living room. Earl started to laugh and said Jason was going to die when he finds his car is gone. I heard him say that, I looked at the car and screamed at him, “You better get this car out of the living room right now! Mom and dad will be home from work in about twenty minutes and if they see this in here you know what they will do to you!” So Earl and his friends had to pick the car up and carry it back outside to the parking space where Jason had it. Our parents never knew they had a car parked in their living room that day. More Reflections of the past in the next issue. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST 5-12-06 "What is wrong with Leon?” Dolly asked our mother. Leon was the youngest brother of ours. “He has to have his tonsils removed that is why he is in the hospital!” my mother explained to us. Poor Leon at 3 years old had never slept in a room by himself before. Here he was alone in the hospital. Parents weren’t allowed to stay with children so our mother and father had gone home when visiting hours were over. As night approached Leon was getting scared and began to cry. A nurse came in and stayed with him until he went to sleep. In the middle of the night Leon woke up and looked around. There was no one in the room with him. He walked to the door, which was slightly opened and put his hand on the lower part of the frame and gently opened it. He peeked out the door and saw no one in the hall. He didn’t know what to do. Leon walked to the next room and spotted someone in the bed. Thinking it might be our mother he crawled up on the bed and snuggled next to the person and got comfortable and went to sleep. The woman just moved over to make room for him and she also went back to sleep. Early next morning my parents showed up in Leon’s room and he was gone. My mother ran to get the nurse and was in a panic. The nurse calmed my mother down and told her not to worry. She explained how she found him in the bed with the woman in the next room. She then went to get him. The woman that Leon had crawled in bed with was no other than the Chicago Cubs baseball player Ernie Banks wife. As Leon got older he would say he was the only man that ever slept with Ernie Banks wife and got away with it. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST 4-8-06 While sitting on the front steps with my brother Earl and my sister Dolly a few of our friends happened to come by to talk. We were laughing and telling jokes when Earl jumped up and yelled, “Look at that car, did you ever see anything like it before?” As I turned to look, it pulled up and parked behind another car. “What a strange looking car and who in the world is driving the thing?” asked John, one of our friends. The car had only one door on the driver’s side and could only hold one person and maybe a small suitcase or a bag. There was no trunk and I had no idea where the engine was. It did have four small tires. It was the smallest car I had ever seen. The door opens and out comes Jason (a cousin of ours). He had a rough time getting out since he was so tall. He yelled to Earl, “Can you keep an eye on my car while I run across the street to see someone?” Earl came off the stairs and walked to the car. He said, “yea I’ll watch it for you!” All we had to do was just stand there and look over the top of it and we seen the whole car that’s how small it was. I was talking to a friend about the car when I heard the laughter of a few friends. As I turned to look I couldn’t believe my eyes. Earl and two other boys actually picked the car off the curb and began to walk up the stairs of the porch with it. Dolly and I followed behind them yelling, “What in the world are you doing?” By the time we got up the stairs they had dropped the car right in the middle of the living room. Earl started to laugh and said Jason was going to die when he finds his car is gone. I heard him say that, I looked at the car and screamed at him, “You better get this car out of the living room right now! Mom and dad will be home from work in about twenty minutes and if they see this in here you know what they will do to you!” So Earl and his friends had to pick the car up and carry it back outside to the parking space where Jason had it. Our parents never knew they had a car parked in their living room that day. More Reflections of the past in the next issue. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST 3-20-06 There Earl went, down the street strutting with his new black leather jacket (it looked like a motorcycle jacket) on. He was all that and more he thought. A friend of his had bought a new jacket and gave Earl his old one. Earl wanted everybody to see his jacket and how tough he looked in it. He had his hair slicked back Elvis Presley style and snapped his fingers as he walked. Earl was sure tough looking all right, and I thought he looked cool. I tried to follow him as he showed off but he caught me a few times and yelled at me. I would pretend to go home but followed anyway. I finally got tired of watching him and went back to what I was doing before I followed him. Later on in the day I saw Earl running around the corner of the block toward our house. He was really in a hurry. I never paid any attention if anything was wrong or not and kept on jumping rope. Later on that night I heard that Earl’s big and tough attitude had come to a halt. As he was acting like he was the best looking thing around he ran into a few boys from another neighborhood. They sure didn’t like him but they sure did like his leather jacket with all those nice zippers on it. They wanted it. Earl noticed them looking at it and ran. That day Earl lost his new black leather jacket to those boys. He learned a good lesson that day and that was to never show off what you got or you will lose it. REFLECTIONS of the Past 3-6-06 Here it was Easter Sunday and I had a new dress on. I had new shoes and socks as well. Everything I wore today was new. My mother made sure we were dressed very good on Easter. My sister Kay had the same kind of dress as mine but hers was red and mine was blue. Jean and Dolly had on different dresses then ours. My brothers wore new pants, shirts and shoes. The whole family was dressed up. My mother had on a new dress and shoes and she looked so pretty. My father had on his new white shirt with a tie and black dress pants. I thought my father and mother were the best looking couple anywhere. In the afternoon as I was walking down the street I happened to look down the alley and noticed something in one of the garbage cans, it looked like something reddish orange and I could see part of whatever it was. I was curious about what it could be and walked over to the can and looked in. There was a girl in there. “What are you doing? ” I asked her. She stood up and stared at me, “I’m looking for some good stuff in here!” I seen how dirty she was from being in the garbage can and I asked, ”What have you found in there that is so good?” She just kept digging not paying any attention to me. When she did look up it was long enough to throw torn bags of stuff out. I stood there in my new clothes watching her for a long time. Eventually she climbed out of the can and had nothing to show for her efforts. Her name was Nobie (funny name I thought) and she had short red hair and lots of freckles on her face. I told her who I was and we made friends right away. We were talking when all of a sudden a mouse came out of nowhere and tried to run up Nobie’s leg. We both screamed and jumped back and the mouse still hung on to her sock. Then Nobie grabbed the mouse with her hand and was going to throw it but it bit into her index finger and wouldn’t let go. I tried to slap it off her finger but that didn’t work. Still screaming Nobie fell on her knees and still couldn’t get the mouse loose. I ran to look for something to help get it off her finger when I accidentally slipped and fell on the stuff she had thrown out of the garbage can. It was icky and smelly. I looked a mess and smelled awful too but I needed something to get the mouse off Nobie. When I looked around at her she had somehow got the mouse off her finger but it was swollen and turning an ugly green color. She ran home crying. I ran home too knowing I had a lot of explaining to do why I smelled so bad and why my clothes were so dirty Next day I seen Nobie again and guess where she was? REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST 2-26-06 I was in our backyard playing with my sister Dolly. We were having so much fun with an old box a refrigerator had come in. It was so large we used it as a playhouse. I got a knife from my mother’s kitchen and cut a door in the front and a window on one side. What a good time we were having. I went upstairs and got our dolls when I took the knife back to the kitchen. My mother and my sisters Jean and Kay were grocery shopping and my father was out front talking to a few neighbors. My brothers were around somewhere. When I came back down I heard Dolly yelling, “Get out of here, it’s our box!” I saw Earl and Joey trying to get in the box and pushing Dolly out. Dolly started to cry and ran to the front to get our father. I stood there while they crawled in the box. They didn’t see me. I sneaked up to the box and pushed it over with them in it. I heard them laugh. They were having fun with our box. I walked over and yelled, “ You better get out of our box or I’ll tear it up!” They kept on laughing. I grabbed a part of the cardboard and pulled with all my might. I tore a big chunk out of the side. Earl yelled for me to stop but I grabbed another piece and pulled until it tore the box almost in half. That made Earl angry so he jumped out of the box. I let go of the cardboard and ran. I ran to the front where my father was. I almost bumped into him and Dolly. I told him Earl was chasing me because I wanted my box back. Earl didn’t chase me like I thought; he wanted to stay with the box. When we got to the backyard my father told Earl to give the box back to us. Earl didn’t want to. He started yelling and called me a tattletale. My father got mad and picked up the box and tore it into a few pieces and stuffed it in the garbage can out back. He was upset with all of us. “Now you’ll have to get along without that box, I’m going back out front and you kids better not fight while I’m out there or you know what will happen if you do!” He looked at us “You hear me!” We all nodded yes. When my father left Earl yelled, “See what you did, now we don’t have a box to play with!” I grabbed my dolls and began to go upstairs with Dolly. I turned around and yelled back at him, “It wasn’t your box anyway, we found it first and it belonged to me and Dolly until you came along. I’m glad daddy threw it away just so you don’t get to play in it!” I ran up the stairs after Dolly. Earl and Joey went somewhere else to play. They had ruined our afternoon in the box. REFLECTIONS of the Past 4-12-06 "Hey, what are you doing there?” A man yelled as Earl was caught climbing over a fence on the owner’s property. Earl got down on the other side and ran. The owner was mad and yelled as Earl took off, “Don’t let me catch you coming back here again!” Earl had a small brown paper bag full of purple grapes and was showing all of us what they looked like. They looked good and I asked him if I could taste one. Jerking the bag away so none else could look a the grapes he bluntly told me, “If you want some go get your own cause you’re not getting mine, I almost got caught getting these!” Earl usually didn’t get caught at anything. He was sneaky and fast. My friend Judy and I asked Earl for a grape again and Earl told us again “No!” So we yelled back at him, “If you don’t let us taste one of those grapes we are going to tell on you and you will be in big trouble” Earl got mad and ran after us yelling, “Get back here you little tattletales I’m gonna knock your heads off!” Judy and I were laughing as we ran from Earl. He finally gave up his chase and went back to his bunch of friends. As Judy and I were walking back from our chase we noticed a small brown paper bag lying on the sidewalk. I picked the bag up and looked inside. What luck! Inside the bag were the grapes. Earl must have dropped them by mistake after chasing us. . We didn’t go far to get our own grapes as Earl told us to do. We had his! Judy and I sure did enjoy them. We saw Earl looking up and down the street and we figured he must be looking for those delicious grapes in the bag. Earl’s mistake was chasing us. He never caught us and he had lost all of his grapes as well. He never did get anymore or so we thought. More Reflections of the past in the next issue. REFLECTIONS of the Past 4-6-06 I was ironing some handkerchiefs of my dad’s. He always wanted them ironed and folded neatly. This was one of many jobs around the house we had to do. I had finished the last handkerchief and was turning off the iron when the door flew open and there stood my little brother Henry. He was huffing and puffing from running up the stairs. When he finally got his breath he told our mother that Earl had just got into a fight. Henry was so little and skinny. He went on to say that Earl had started the fight and he saw it all. My mother ran down the stairs with us right behind her. When we got outside my sister Jean and my other little brother Donny were pointing across the street. We looked across the street and sure enough there was a crowd. We all followed our mother as she crossed the street. The neighbors were coming out on their stairs to see what was going on too. Lots of people were gathering near the fight. When we saw Earl his hair was a mess and his shirt was torn but he wasn’t hurt. My mother asked him what happened and he said, ‘It ain’t my fault this time!” My mother looked at him and turned around to see who it was Earl had the fight with. Standing there was a girl around 14 and she looked mean and tough. She kept her eyes right on Earl. Then she calmly said, “I wanted to see how tough this Earl was everyone has been talking about and I found out he isn’t so tough after all!” She then threw a kiss at Earl and walked away. I think that was the day Earl started to like the girls a lot. REFLECTIONS of the PAST 4-6-06 I was getting out of bed in the early morning when I heard my brother Earl begging my father to let him go to one of our cousin’s house. They lived pretty far away from us. That is what I thought anyway. “Dad! Please let me go, I swear I won’t get into trouble or anything. I know the way and I promise I won’t go by myself!” Dad sternly looked at him and scolded, “NO! Didn’t you hear me the first time! ” By that time I came into the kitchen hungry from the smell of my mom’s cooking, the aroma was heavenly. Mom cooked a big breakfast every morning for all of us. Earl was still brooding as I sit down at the table. I looked over at Dolly who was seated on the opposite of Earl she was looking at him and laughing. Earl began to stick his tongue out at her and yelled for her to shut up. After breakfast Earl went down the street and around the corner as Kay and I watched him disappear. We followed him and ended up at the orphanage a block or two away. Earl was there and was ringing the doorbell. The nuns who took care of the orphans always gave him candy. He told them we were his sisters and they gave us some candy too. Around five o’clock in the evening I heard my mom yelling “Dolly! Dolly!” She asked us if we had seen her and I told her I didn’t. No one seemed to know where Dolly was. We searched and searched and still no Dolly. My mother said she was going to go around the block and look and my father said he was going to the next block. Jean, Kay and I followed after mom. As we walked around the block Kay yelled, “There she is! Mommy there’s Dolly!” As I looked where Kay was pointing I seen Dolly holding hands with a nun from the orphanage as another one walked next to them. My mother ran to Dolly and with tears in her eyes she screamed, “My baby! My baby!” One of the nuns stopped my mother and asked, “What do you want with this child.” My mother was getting upset with the situation so she said as politely as she could. “This is my little girl you have and she is mine!” The nun replied, “Do you have any proof she is yours!” My mother held her head straight up and bluntly said, “I think I aught to know my own daughter!” and with that Dolly reached for mom. They then handed Dolly over to her. The nuns explained how they got Dolly. They said a young boy brought her to them saying she was an orphan and had no home. My mother carried Dolly home holding her like she was going to break. When we got home my mother explained to my father where Dolly had ended up. “Earl! Earl! Where are you, you get in here right now and I mean right now you hear me!” Guess who gave Dolly away and was in lots and lots of trouble. I hope you are enjoying More Reflections of the Past. There will be more in the next issue. REFLECTIONS of the Past 4-6-06 When I was growing up in Chicago, ILL. I had to play in the streets or walk a few blocks to my school playground. The baseball field was mostly gravel and dirt. There was a building that stored sports gear for the school. On one side of the building there was swings and a sandbox. On the other side were a merry-go-round, more swings and a slide. There were all sorts of things for kids to do. All the way across the field were more rides. There was another Merry-go-round and a ride we called high flyers. That was my favorite ride. There were two of those in the park. Sometimes I had to wait to get on them because they were so popular. It was a fun place to go. Wintertime was fun there too. When the caretakers of the sports building knew the temperature was going to be below freezing they would get the water hoses out and let the water fill the whole entire ball field up all day long. When they knew they had enough water in the field they turned the water off, put the hoses up and went home for the night. Next morning we all knew it was time to go skating on the ice. The water had turned to ice overnight and the park was our ice skating rink. Every kid in the neighborhood was there, some with ice skates and some with none. I happened to be one that didn’t have any skates. The doors were open to the sports building and some kids that had money could rent skates. My sisters and brothers never had skates either and none of us had money to rent any. I would take a run and slide across the ice. My feet would get so cold but I never stopped. Back and forth I would go. I had on a pair of saddleback shoes (black and white lace ups) on and a long pair of socks. I would slide across the ice pretty good since the soles were so hard. Most of the girls had the same kind of shoes on. I was doing so good at sliding on the ice that I never paid much attention to Earl as he slide next to me and took hold of my coat. I tried so hard to keep from falling but Earl was bigger then me and down we went. He landed on my legs and I started to cry from the cold and the pain. Each time Earl got up he would slide and fall back down on me. I moved fast the fourth time he got up and scrambled to my feet but I fell down too. Earl grabbed for someone else as I got on my hands and knees dodging other skaters to get back to safe ground. Safe at last! I looked down at my legs and they were bleeding from the crawl off the ice and from Earl falling on them. I kept wiping the blood off with my dress as I went home. I was a mess but all in all I did have some fun that day. REFLECTIONS of the Past 3-29-06 My sister Jean was so upset and crying. “What’s wrong, Jean?” I asked. She looked up at me and yelled, “Go away, you little brat!!” I knew right then not to ask another question so I walked away. I wondered what made her act that way so I asked my other sister Kay. She didn’t know either so I just left it like that and went to play. I saw Earl Roller skating down the street and he was coming straight at me. I knew if I didn’t jump out of the way he would crash into me so I ran between two parked cars and watched as he flew past me. Then I thought, Earl never had any roller skates. He always said he didn’t like to skate. Whose did he have on then? I watched Earl fly down the street and disappear around the corner. I was safe and came back on the sidewalk. I had some skates but didn’t feel like skating today. Jean showed up and walked over to me and asked if I had seen Earl. I told her I had and explained where he went. Her eyes were red where she had been crying. She left to go down the street and around the corner. A few minutes later Jean came around the corner on roller skates and she went flying past me. Where did she get those skates? I didn’t see her go in the house for hers. I didn’t know what to think. Jean was having fun skating back and forth up and down the street. I then wondered where Earl was. He never did come back. After about an hour I saw him coming around the block. He was walking and didn’t have any skates on. I waited until he got closer and asked him what happened to the skates. He didn’t answer but just went past me and into the house. The skates Earl had on were Jean’s and she got them back from him that day. I don’t know how she did it and I sure wasn’t going to ask. More Reflections of the past in next issue. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST by Taurus 3-22-06 It was an accident that I bumped into Earl and he dropped his orange Crush soda bottle. It crashed to the ground and broke in a few pieces as the orange liquid flowed down the sidewalk. “What is wrong with you?” Earl screamed at me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it!” I told him with a hurt voice. “Get outta of here then!” he said as he proceeded to stoop down and pick the glass off the sidewalk. Later on that day as I was ready to go in, I heard Earl yell for me to come down by the basement. My two brothers Joey and Henry were with him along with a couple friends of his. My younger sister Dolly heard Earl too and came with me. When we got to the basement door where Earl was he said there was something in the basement we all had to see. One by one we took our turn going in to see what was so important. When each one came out they said they didn’t see anything. I was the last one. “You have good eyes show them what’s in there!” So I went in to look. Just as I got in Earl slammed the door shut and put the padlock on it so I couldn’t get out. I screamed for him to let me out. I could hear him out there laughing. I tried to focus my eyes to get a better view of my situation. I shouldn’t have done that. All around me was mud. I had heard stories about this basement. It was said it had quicksand and you could sink fast if you took the wrong step. I was petrified and stood where I was. I felt something crawling on my hair and swooped my hand to swat whatever it was. I looked up and noticed the whole ceiling was covered with spider webs. I put my hands over my face and began to scream and scream and scream. I heard Dolly crying outside and yelling at Earl to open the door. He just kept laughing and I kept screaming. I heard Earl yell, “This will teach you a lesson not to mess with me!” I was so scared. I wanted out of the basement. Earl finally opened the door and I ran past him crying. I went home and never mentioned my ordeal to anyone, and neither did Joey, Henry or Dolly. To this day I’m terrified of spiders and I blame Earl for my phobia of the creatures. More Reflections of the past in next issue. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST by Taurus 3-16-06 “Where did you get that dollar?” my brother Joey asked as I flashed it in front of him. ‘I don’t have to tell you where I got it from, its mine and not yours!” I replied. I was going to the corner store to buy some candy with my dollar. I had it in my hand when Joey asked me about it. I walked past him and on my way to the store. I entered the store and looked at all the candy on shelves behind the glass. I had so much money that I couldn’t decide what to get. Candy was only 1cent apiece. Some of the bigger candy was 2 cents. I stood there for a long time trying to decide and finally I made up my mind. I walked out of the store with a big bag of candy. I had decided to get two pieces of each kind. There went my dollar. Walking down the street I bumped into Joey again and told him to come back home with me and we could eat the candy. At home there was enough for all of my sisters and brothers too. We really enjoyed that candy that day. As we were eating the candy Earl asked me where I got the dollar to get all this candy. I had to tell them or they were going to ask me forever. So I told him. I was coming home from the park earlier in the day. The boy who always picked on Dolly thought he could get away with picking on me too. He didn’t have a chance as I grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He tried to wrestle free but I had him. He raised his arm to hit me and I let him have it with my fist. He fell to the ground and began to cry. I called him a crybaby. He got up and promised he would never bother me again but I wasn’t finished with him. I told him if he gave me a dollar I wouldn’t hit him anymore and he had to leave my sister Dolly alone. He promised and I waited until he went home and brought back my money. He bothered Dolly one more time after that and he never went near her again. He knew what would happen if he did. The candy sure was good though. More Reflections in the next issue. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST by Taurus 3-13-06 “What are we going to do!” cried my sister Kay. We were out in the rain and Kay had fell in the mud and pulled me down with her. We were both a mess, all muddy and dirty. Our mother was going to be mad. We had just put these clean dresses on and now look at us. Kay suggested we stay outside until the rain had washed the mud off our dresses. I went along with her. We decided we would take a walk around the block while our dresses were being cleaned. Our hair was soaking wet and our shoes were soaked as well. We walked around the block two times and some of the mud was still on our dresses. Kay said we needed to go around one more time and that would be enough. The last time around and finally the mud was off but we were still a mess from being so wet from walking in the rain. I looked at Kay and the rain was dripping down her face and her dress was so wet it was sticking to her body. I looked down at my dress and it was the same way. I asked, “can’t we go in yet?” Kay stood there all wet and soaking and said, “I guess we better, we are going to be in trouble for being out in the rain anyway!” When we got near our house I wanted to run to door and get in as fast as I could. Kay looked funny all wet with her hair hanging down soaked and I know I looked like that too. My shoes so wet they were flopping off my feet. When we made it to the front off the house Earl ran past us and knocked Kay right in the same puddle of mud that we fell in the first time. This time I held on and didn’t fall instead I ran after Earl and as he was running up the hallway stairs I grabbed his ankle and he tripped. He got mad and ran after me down the stairs. Just as he got out the door Kay grabbed him and he fell in the mud puddle she had been in. He got up and Kay told him what we had done about our clothes when we got muddy. So off Earl and Kay went around the block to wash the mud off their clothes as I went indoors. Poor Kay, I felt so sorry for her having to walk around the block again that I ran down the stairs and caught up with them and proceeded to go three times around the block with them even though I wasn’t muddy. More Reflections in the next issue. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST by Taurus 1-23-06 Dolly and I were playing with our dolls when Kay yelled for us to come in the living room. We put our dolls on the bed and ran to the living room. Kay was sitting on the floor and had a box that held a new game of monopoly. She asked us to play a game with her. We sat down and started playing monopoly. The game didn’t seem like it was ever going to end. We played and played. I was losing and getting bored. We decided that Kay won so we could end it. Dolly looked over at me and asked, “ Do you want to go play with our dolls?” I agreed and we ran to our room. Kay was putting the game away and said she wanted to play too. Dolly and I knew we had put our dolls on the bed but one of them was gone and it was one of mine. I looked all over the room and couldn’t find my doll. Kay came in and asked why I was looking under the bed. I explained to her about my doll. She said she might know what happened to it. I followed her to Earl’s room. When we opened the bedroom door there was my doll on the floor. I gasped and started to cry as I looked at my doll. Her head was missing and one of her arms. I yelled so loud my mother ran to the room. “What in the world is the matter?” I cried and showed her my doll. Earl tried to run pass the room but my mother caught him. Earl tried his best to work his way out of his predicament and explained, “I just wanted to see what made the doll cry that was all, anyway it’s just an ole doll!” He was punished again but it never stopped him from taking the heads off other dolls we had. Some never cried again. More Reflections of the past in the next issue. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST by Taurus 1-15-06 There was a small store on the corner where we lived. My mother sent me there to get some potatoes she was going to cook for supper. As I was on my way I came to an abrupt halt when I seen Earl outside the store. He was swinging a rope around his head and I just knew if I got close to him I would be sorry. I stopped and watched him as he swung the rope faster and faster almost hitting a woman as she came out of the store. She screamed at Earl and told him to put that rope down or he was going to hurt some one. I heard Earl say, “I won’t hurt no one with this ole rope!” The woman went back in the store and came back out and left. I saw the owner come out and grab the rope from Earl as he swung it around the last time. The owner yelled, “Earl, you can’t do this in front of my store. You understand me! ” Earl gave him a mean look and replied, “ I’ll go but you better give me that rope back, my sisters play jump rope with it so you got to give it back!” The owner handed it back to him and said, “You’re lucky this time Earl, if that rope didn’t belong to your sisters you wouldn’t be getting it back at all!” With that Earl got the rope back and he left and I finally got to go in the store and get my mothers potatoes. I know she was going to wonder where I was. Another thing was I was going to tell my sisters who had our jump rope too! More Reflections in next issue. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST by Taurus _11-13-05 In the year 1962 in Chicago, Ill. it was a nice cool day. I was out playing with my sisters Jean, Kay and Dolly. We were in our back yard with our dolls and sitting on the ground making mud pies. We were pretending that we were eating them and serving some to our dolls. It was messy putting our hands in the mud and making a pie but we were having so much fun. I accidentally smeared some mud on my dolls face and Jean scolded, “You are supposed to be neat when you feed your baby and you are making a mess!” As soon as she said that she accidentally smudged some on her baby doll too. I started to laugh and Kay and Dolly did too. Jean looked mad at first but then she began to laugh as well. Our laughter was so loud it drew the attention of my brothers Earl and Joey. They ran to see what was so funny. “ Why don’t we play with the old buggy under the stairs!” Earl said with eager. We all jumped up and I said that it will be fun and we could take turns riding in it. Dolly and Joey wanted to ride first so Jean and Kay put them in. We took turns pushing the buggy from one end of the street to the other. “Can I get in the buggy and you pretend like I’m the baby and take me for a ride!” Earl pleaded. Dolly and Joey yelled that they were the babies and weren’t getting out. Jean and Kay eventually talked them into getting out so Earl could be the baby for a while. Earl was having lots of fun acting like a baby and he was good at it. He was saying “Dada and mama!” Joey covered him with a blanket as Dolly and I helped push the buggy. When we got to the big supermarket Jean stated her and Kay would push him for a while. Kay whispered, Let’s play a trick on Earl!” We all agreed to that. In the supermarket Jean and Kay pushed the buggy down each isle as Earl kept on saying dada and mama. People walking by were trying to look at the baby but Joey did a good job of covering Earl up. Dolly kept repeating, “Shut up you big baby, shut up!!” A woman and man kept staring at her as they went down the aisle shopping. When we all got to the middle of the store with the buggy, we slowly turned around and silently tiptoed out of the store trying our best not to laugh. We left the buggy sitting right in the middle of the store with Earl in it and he was still acting like a baby. Kay and I went back into the store to see what people would do when they seen that no one was with the baby in the buggy. A woman coming down the aisle heard Earl and got curious and walked over to the buggy with concern on her face. She leaned over and pulled the blanket back. As quick as she uncovered Earl they both looked at each other and screamed at the same time. Earl was still screaming as he jumped out of the buggy and ran down the aisles and out the store. Kay was leaning over laughing almost falling. I was so tickled that I lost my breath and held my stomach. It was so funny to see Earl in that predicament. After all, he was a big baby!! I guess he was embarrassed because he never did mention the incident. This was one time he got what he deserved and we got our revenge on him. Look for more Reflections of the past in the next issue. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST by Taurus 11-7-05 In Chicago, Ill. my family and I lived near an Italian club. The place was located on the corner where we lived. The club was exclusively for elderly Italian men who participated in different sorts of activities. They usually smoked their large cigars and had conversations about who knows what. Their door was always open and a few men sit outside in the summer months and just enjoyed conversations between each other. I never paid much attention to them since I always had so much fun playing with all my friends and sisters. On this particular day the doors were locked up and not a soul was around the club. It was just so natural to see the men there. We continued what we were doing not giving it another thought. It was getting late and I heard my mother calling for us to come in for the night. I ran home pretty quick and knew my mother was going to fix a good snack for us. When us kids were all in my mother looked from one room to the other then asked, “Where’s Earl?” I looked at my sister Kay and we both shrugged our shoulders as if to say we didn’t know. “I haven’t seen him since we came in for supper a few hours ago” my sister Jean said. Then my younger brother Joey said he seen him going around the corner earlier but hadn’t seen him since. Earl was missing and none of us knew where he was. My mother and father were in a panic. My younger sister Dolly started to cry. It was a mad house with all the commotion about Earl. My mother was screaming, “Oh my baby! Oh my baby!” My father told her to calm down that Earl would be home soon. My mother ran to phone to call the police. As she picked the phone up the door opened and in walks Earl. My mother yelled, “Where in the world have you been!!” Earl had his pants rolled up past his knees and his legs were purple. I laughed at the way he looked. My father asked him why his legs were purple and his reply was. “Well, when I went out after supper one of the men at the club said they would pay me and Raymond money if we could go down in there basement and get in a tub and mash grapes for them!” (Raymond was one of Earl’s friends). My mother yelled “What! You mean all this time you’ve been in a tub mashing grapes with your feet!” Earl stood there and all he could say was, “Yea, and I got $2.00 for it.” So now we knew where the Italian men were all day. As usual Earl was punished for coming in late that night and for mashing grapes. When he was around anyone he never rolled up his pants legs. He never went barefoot after that for months because it took that long for the purple to wear off. More Reflections of the past in next issue. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST by Taurus #10 8-18-05 When the summer came in Chicago in the year of 1960, my family was invited to go on a vacation trip to Saginaw, Michigan with many more families from all over the city by Erie House (the church I mentioned in an earlier issue). Parents had a cabin all their own with their younger children staying with them while the older kids from age 9 and up went to cabins on the other side of the camp. There were about 12 kids to each cabin. Girls and boys were separate from each other. The dining area was very large. Before we ate we said prayer and the room was always quiet during that time but when the prayer was over it got real loud. Each cabin of kids sat at their own table. The camps were by Lake Michigan and walking on the beach was so nice. There was sand everywhere. The sand dunes were high as buildings in some places and we would walk up as far as we could get and then roll down them falling and squealing and screaming with delight. What fun we had on that beach. Swimming was even more fun. We had a certain time of the day we could go in the water and we could only go with our group from the cabin. Earl always won the checkers champion and no one could ever beat him. He was named the king of the game. When the game started each night you could hear a pin drop as the players tried their best to beat Earl in checkers. He never lost one game. I thought it was so boring but I watched anyway. After the game was over I ran to the beach with the rest of the group to see the big bon fire the older kids had made. After a while I got tired of watching the fire and singing songs that I got up and ran back to my cabin. As I walked in, there was another girl lying on her bed and she was crying. I sat on my bed for a few minutes and finally asked her, “Did anyone hurt you?” She looked up at me with astonishment and said, “Who would hurt me here!!” I told her everyone was so nice here that I was just asking. “No, I miss my mommy and daddy,” she said in between sobs, “ I want to go home!” So then I started to cry and told her my mother was on the other side of the camp and I haven’t seen her since I’ve been here. I told her I was going to sneak over there and see her tomorrow. I asked her to come with me and she said ok. Next day we started on our way. We had to go through the woods, which was situated more inland from the beach. As we followed the paths that were to take us to my mother we met Earl. He wasn’t going to stay in a cabin he had to go to mommy. He said he was going to see our mother and I said that was where we were going too. Earl said, “You can follow me if you want to, but there are lots of ticks, spiders and snakes going this way and I’m not coming back here!!” I wasn’t scared and knew he was just trying to scare us The girl I was with screamed and shouted as tears rolled down her cheeks that she was scared of snakes and spiders. I was tempted to just leave her there and go on my way but I couldn’t so we turned back and I never seen my mother until we went home. Earl stayed the rest of the time with our mother and he never did come back, he was a big baby like the girl in my cabin who still cried every day and every night for her mommy and daddy until we left the camp. More Reflections of the past in next issue. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST by Taurus Here we are in Chicago, IL. The year is 1959. The neighborhood was buzzing with laughter and the screams of kids enjoying themselves. Adults were sitting on their front steps, talking to their neighbors about things happening around them. Hands went up to wave hello to the next person coming out of their apartments. Everyone knew each other back then. Even when someone new moved into the neighborhood they were made welcome. Each neighbor would go over to say hello and welcome them. Friends were made fast. On this day the heat was unbearable. Back then no one had air conditioners, all we had were fans to keep us cool and it was so hot indoors that everyone went outside to find some comfort. Earl and a bunch of teens yelled for someone to turn the fire hydrant on (we called it the pump.) A man by the name of Dominic came out with a monkey wrench to turn it on. The water came out gushing and everyone yelled and screamed with glee. Someone said to put a tire around the pump and stick a board in front of the tire of gushing water. When that was done the water went up in the air and it looked like a giant fountain. We all ran to get wet and cool off. Adults, teenagers, children and even some babies went under the fountain of water. What fun we were having that day running in and out of the water. A policeman drove by and parked blocking the street. He then got out of his car as another policeman opened his door and got out on the other side. They walked to the trunk of their cruiser and got a monkey wrench out and never said a word as they took the wrench and turned the pump off. The disappointment showed throughout the neighborhood. All the people started yelling at the one officer who shut it down, to turn it back on. He was stubborn and said, “Absolutely not, I have a duty to turn every one off.” You could hear the word “PLEEEEASE” said by all the neighbors. Then Dominic yelled, “WHEN YOU LEAVE WE WILL TURN IT BACK ON!!” That wasn’t working too well so I seen Earl and two girls go over to this real pretty blonde woman by the name of Rose (who had her bathing suit on) and whisper something to her. She used a sexy walk to go up to the policeman and start to flirt and use all the charm she had on him. There wasn’t a word spoke by anyone as we all watched her. All she had to do was get near him and you could see him melt. “Please, oh, please let us have fun.” she said in a purring voice. The other officer was also melting as he watched her sway and move as she talked them right into turning it back on. Everyone watched as he gave his permission to let us have our fun. Both policemen looked like they were in another world as they kept watching Rose when they turned the pump back on. Everyone in the neighborhood yelled nicely to the officers “THANK YOU.” When the water came back on, you could hear the laughter and squealing of all the adults and children. What a day we had that summer all due to Earl and his friends for their quick thinking. This was one time Earl and his friends did us all a favor. More Reflections of the past in the next issue. REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST by Taurus Here it is in the year of 1957 in Chicago, IL. Every Friday night my parents gave one or two of us money to go to the corner store to get 6 or 8 12oz. bottles of Pepsi cola. On this particular night I wanted to go with my brother Earl and my sister Kay to the store to get the Pepsi. We had to go out through the back alley and to the street to get to the store. It was pitch black out and hard to see Earl and Kay in the alley. There were no lights and that made it even spookier. We finally made it to the street, which was lit up with lights. We got to the store and bought the Pepsi we were sent after to get. The storekeeper counted our empty bottles we brought with us. Those were taken off the price of what we bought. Earl tricked Kay and I by saying “Girls are such sissies that they can’t do anything at all. I bet they can’t even carry a carton of Pepsi!” Kay and I both whispered to each other and said we weren’t going to let Earl think we were weaklings. We fell hook line and sinker for Earls trick and picked up the cartons and proceeded to carry them home. I tried my best to hold the carton but it was getting heavier and heavier. I seen Kay had lifted her carton up to her chest to carry with both hands. So I did the same thing. . We thought we were so smart by proving to Earl we weren’t sissies, that we hurt our own selves. Just as we got to the alley it seemed like it was even darker then before. I started to tremble. I wanted to run to the door and get inside as fast as I could but I couldn’t see anything because it was so dark. All of a sudden out of nowhere, three friends of Earl’s jumped out from behind the garbage cans and yelled “AAAAAHHH!!!” I screamed and dropped all the Pepsi. All of the bottles broke as they hit the ground. Kay had dropped hers too and was screaming like me. Kay grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her as we ran to the door screaming. The light in the hallway lit up as we opened the door. We could see behind us then. When we got there we looked back and seen Earl laughing his head off, so was his friend’s. They thought it was funny. . Earl was going to find out how funny it was when we told our mom and dad what he done to us. They were going to be real mad at losing the Pepsi because of his tricks. They didn’t have much money and we only got a Pepsi on Friday nights. Tonight we wouldn’t have a Pepsi at all because of Earl. He got punished again but he didn’t care. It was a habit of his. He had to clean all the glass up in the alley the next morning. Look for more Reflections of the Past in the next issue. A few of our cousins were spending the night with us one night in 1956. We were having loads of fun. The more of us there was the more fun it seemed to be. This night there was 12 of us kids all together. I know we were loud because our father would come in the room where we were and tell us to be quiet. He came in more than once. Earl and Arthur (our cousin) were about the same age. They came up with some great idea that we should all hide and when someone entered the room all of us were to jump out of our spot at exactly the same time and grab whoever it was. We all began to hide. Places were hard to find since there was so many of us. There were two full size beds in the room. I hid under the blanket on one of the beds. I was little so the pillows mostly disguised me. We were so loud; then all of a sudden you could hear a pin drop. We heard our father coming in to check on us. He seen that the lights were out and thought we were all asleep. He went back to his room. A few minutes later I heard glass breaking and peeked out and seen that Earl had broken the ceiling light bulb and the glass cover with the broom he had in his hands. Jean screamed at him, “NOW YOU’VE DONE IT!! YOU AND ARTHUR HAVE GOT US IN A LOT OF TROUBLE WITH YOUR BIG IDEAS! SO WHAT’S YOUR BIG PLAN NOW!!” Earl stood there thinking, he had to be quick because our father would be coming in here soon. We knew he had to have heard the glass breaking. Earl and Arthur came up with their brilliant plan, throw most of the clothes out of the drawers on the floor and turn things in the room over (like the chest and dresser) and tell our dad that someone came in to rob us and they couldn’t find what they wanted so they got mad and destroyed the place. Jean and Kay got so upset and said that no one was ever going to fall for something that crazy. Earl and Arthur proceeded to go ahead with their plan, with us watching them tear the place apart. In walks our father as they were pulling clothes out and throwing them on the floor. This time I hid under the bed. I knew what was coming next. Earl got caught with his accomplice, Arthur. They tried to explain their story to our father, which was going nowhere. Our father was mad and sternly told Earl, “YOU STAND THERE AND ACTUALLY TELL ME THAT STORY AND EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE IT!!” Earl and Arthur started to fidget and stutter and said in a low voice, “Well, ah, yes we do.” Our father then scolded them both, “THERE IS NO WAY THAT ANYONE WOULD COME IN THIS HOUSE WITH THIS MANY KIDS IN ONE PLACE! IN FACT; THEY WOULD BE RUNNING AWAY FROM HERE!!” Our father then gave his order, “ ALL YOU KIDS THAT DON’T LIVE HERE, GO HOME RIGHT NOW!!!” There was a stampede as our cousins made their way out of our room and out the door. They just lived upstairs from us. After a new bulb was put in Earl was left with the job of folding and putting the clothes back in the drawers and straightening the room up while we kids sit on the bed in a row watching him. Earl got punished that night for telling a lie to our father too. More Reflections next issue. In the year 1956 it was a nice spring day and our neighborhood church was having an extremely large indoor sale. Any one wanting to sell could just bring whatever they wanted and sell it there. We called the place Erie House. It was a place where children went after school for fun and games. The adults also went to enjoy activities with their children. Not one person going there was ever bored. You didn’t even have to belong to the church. Their main purpose was to help each and every person no matter who they were or where they lived. The rich in the suburbs were the sole supporters of Erie House. It was a great place to go and I loved it. When school let out for the day we all rushed home. On this day there was no fun and games or activities going on at Erie House except for those who were getting their things ready for the sale. We weren’t allowed to go there until our mother got home from work and then we would go there with her. Our mother came home and we were finally on our way to the great sale. She had six of us children walking down the street with her. Most everyone in our neighborhood had big families so you can imagine the people walking down the street on their way to the sale. There was excitement all over the neighborhood that day. We enter the building and walk through the lobby to two large double doors. The double doors open into a room that had rows and rows of tables on each side of the huge room full of sale items, coats, dresses, shirts, blouses, pants all hanging neatly. Tables were stacked full of everything imaginable. Anything and everything was for sale. Our mother goes from table to table looking at things, with us kids following her closely. As we are going to each table, I spot Earl three tables down. He looked like he was enjoying himself behind that table selling items. He had a friend of his with him. When we get to Earl’s table our mother screams. “OH NO!! EARL!!! WHAT ON EARTH HAVE YOU DONE THIS TIME!! ” I had no idea what made her so angry until she yelled again “ THESE ARE ALL MY POTS AND PANS FROM MY KITCHEN!!” People turned around to look and when they seen it was Earl our mother was yelling at they continued what they were doing. Everyone knew who Earl was. Then she said in a low seething voice to him with her teeth gritting “You better pack up all of MY pots and pans and take them home, RIGHT NOW!!” Earl moved quick and packed them all in a matter of minutes. Lucky for him he hadn’t sold any. As you would know it we had to leave the sale to get our mothers pots and pans home. I never got to see what was on all those tables and I was disappointed. Earl had ruined a perfectly great day for all of us. We later found out that Earl’s friend had sold all his mothers dishes and knick-knacks. Earl was so lucky we showed up early that day. I hate to think about what would have happened if he sold all those pots and pans. More Reflections of the past in next issue 5-23-05 The year is 1957 in Chicago, IL. The sun was shining bright this day. Not a cloud in the sky. I would have been enjoying the day but I was running as fast as I could to get away from Earl. He was chasing me. I can’t recall why. I don’t think I did anything to make him this mad. He couldn’t catch me and he was getting even angrier as I got further away from him. I ran and ran. Then I made it to our house. We lived on the second floor. I decided I would climb on the roof of the neighbors, which was a factory that made quart bottles of soda pop. I always loved to climb and the higher it was the better I liked it. I was fearless when I was 7 & 8 yrs old. I was the biggest tomboy around. I even had all the boys beat when it came to climbing and running, all due to Earl. He taught me everything I knew and he couldn’t even catch me. He couldn’t climb the roof like I did. Well, I first had to climb out our second story window and on a ledge. I would walk that ledge pressed against the building. I never had a fear of falling, never thought about it back then. I never wore pants back then. All girls wore dresses or petal pushers, (they are called Capri’s now). Today I had a dress on. I could do anything even though I wore a dress. I knew boys couldn’t do that. I made it on the factory’s roof. There was a window in the middle of the roof (like a sun roof) I could look down through and watch the soda pop as each flavor of quart bottles went down the conveyer belts. Suddenly rocks were pouring on the roof. Earl was trying his best to hit me but I was just too fast. A few of them hit the window I was just looking through. The owner of the pop factory heard those rocks and me scrambling on the roof and he came out screaming at the top of his lungs, “GET OFF MY ROOF RIGHT NOW!!” Sometimes I never paid any attention to him and acted like I climbed down but never did. I could see Earl down below hiding behind a fence. I couldn’t come down with him there. The owner yelled up at me and said if I promised to come down and not get on his roof again he would give me cases of pop. Earl heard that and yelled up at me and said he promised he wouldn’t bother me if I came down and got the soda pop for them. Of course I agreed with that. I climbed down. The owner went and told my parents about our deal. They said they would make sure I never got on his roof again. He invited the family to watch how the pop was made, which was interesting to them but not me. I just wanted that soda pop and I could see Earl wanted it too. It sure did taste good. Do you think I stayed off that roof? Ha! Not me! I went right back again until I got more soda pop to drink. Sometimes my brothers and sisters would put me up to climb back on there. Back then we always had plenty to drink. All I had to do was climb back on that roof. Look for more reflections of the past in next issue. 4-27-05 The year is 1957. Back then our parents always took an evening of relaxation after working all week and taking care of all us kids. Their thing was wrestling or bingo, which they loved. They deserved their night out together. We had babysitters but they were never much. They never watched us anyway, we watched our own selves. It was hard to find someone to watch 8 children. Earl was so mean they didn’t care what he did, besides Earl, Jean and Kay who were old enough to take care of us anyway. That year, he came up with something new every weekend after our parents left to go enjoy their evening out. Weekend after weekend Earl would scare us. He would say if we didn’t keep quiet some stranger would break in and kidnap us. We were so naïve at the time we would believe him. My older sisters Jean and Kay never believed a word he ever said and that always started an argument with Earl. He wanted to be the ruler of all us smaller kids. One night he told us he would protect us. I don’t know where our sitter was but they weren’t around that night. Earl made up all kinds of things and they might have left Earl took a doll of ours and got a rope and tied it to the dolls feet. I had no idea what he was going to do. Then he got a chair and climbed up to reach the top of the doorway. He was a little short to reach his destination so he got a few books to stand on. He tied the rope to the door and gently laid the doll on the sill at the top of the door. “If anyone tries to break in they are going to get a big surprise, when the door opens the doll will fall and hit them square in the face.” he told us. I thought it was great and we would be safe. Jean and Kay didn’t like it at all and told him he was in for it if he got caught. Earl stood on the chair admiring his work. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop when all of a sudden someone knocked on the door. I jumped and wanted to run but I couldn’t move. My brothers and sisters stood there like me, not moving. Earl rocked back and forth, as he did the doll came down and hit him square in his back and he went tumbling down toward the door. Just as he came face to face with the door it opened and Earl fell into the arms of our mother. “Oh my, God! What is going on here?” She yelled. She seen the doll dangling in the doorway and knew right then what Earl was up to. When we seen our mother and father we all ran and hid, except for Earl who couldn’t because they had a hold of each arm and he couldn’t get free. This time one of his great tricks backfired on him and he was punished for his bad behavior and for scaring us. We never seen that sitter again either. More reflection in next issue. 4-18-05 In 1958 in the city of Chicago I was ordered by my parents to go with my older brother and sister to get fuel oil for our heating stove. The temperature was around zero and it had snowed like a blizzard that day. We had an old wagon we had to carry down two flights of stairs along with two 5 gallon cans for the fuel. I was 9 years old at the time, my sister Kay was 11 and my brother Earl was 14. We started down the street pulling that wagon in the deep snow. Earl would pull it to the store where we got our fuel, about two blocks from where we lived. It was easy for him to pull, since it was so light. When we got to the store, the storekeeper filled the two cans for us. As we started back, Earl made us pull the wagon with the cans full of fuel. He jumped in the wagon as Kay and I pulled and tugged through the snow, falling and getting up, falling and getting up. We were freezing! We had dresses on and our legs were bare and turning red from falling in the wet snow. We had no long socks on. We had no gloves on our hands and they were red and numb. We had no boots on our feet so our toes were hurting so bad from being wet and cold. We did have a scarf on our heads but it didn’t stop the freezing cold from penetrating through to our ears. We were just plain cold. We knew better then to gripe at Earl because he would beat us up. He would pull our hair and slap and punch us. He threw snowballs at us, which hurt if we didn’t do what he said. We couldn’t fight back if we wanted to because our feet, hands and legs were hurting so bad from the cold. Earl was enjoying himself sitting back and yelling, “Hurry up, we’re almost home so stop your complaining, I’m cold too.” Earl loved every minute of us pulling him. Kay would push from the back and I would pull from the front. We would take turns doing that all the way home. When we came to a curb, Earl wouldn’t even get out of the wagon to help us lift it up, we had to lift him and the fuel too. If it almost tipped over, he would scream and say “You better not turn this wagon over and lose the fuel or you will pay for it.” When we finally made it home, which seemed to take a long time, Earl jumped out of the wagon and sat down at the bottom of the staircase. He watched as we had the chore of lugging the cans of fuel up the two flights of stairs then go and carry the wagon up the stairs too, with no help from him. When we were finished, Earl would take the credit for all the hard work Kay and I did. He made it look like he did all the lugging and pulling and we did nothing. Our parents always felt sorry for him. If they knew we were pulling him and the fuel too, I think they would have been really upset with him. Thanks for reading reflections. There will be more in the next issue. |