Experience is a Doorway, Not a Final Destination- Oswald Chambers

Thursday, April 8

Cigarettes, Freaky-Looking Elves and My Childhood

When I was young my family lived on Urban Avenue in Auburn.  It was a lower-middle class neighborhood with small, mostly clean cut houses.  I drove by our old house the other day while I was with my mother.  It made me think of that time in my life. 

One boy on the street was popular because he used to live in Mississippi.  Mississippi was hard to spell, so we all thought it was exotic. He tried to get me to kiss him and I refused.   He then talked my sister into kissing him with the offer of a necklace. She did it and I told mom and dad. Oh what a wonderful older sister.  I think I just wanted the necklace.

We also had a neighbor who filled her yard with trash, tables, lawn ornaments and freaky-looking elves.   My only memory of talking to this woman was the day she was sitting outside, smoking a cigarette.

I walked over to her porch and sat next to her.  I was six.

"Did you know that if you smoke, you can die?" I said seriously.  I wasn't sure if she had been told and felt it was my duty.

"Yeah, I heard that somewhere," she said as she blew a large puff of smoke into the air. 

From the looks of the elves and globes in her yard last week, it appears as if she is still alive.  She may have taken my advice.  I would like to think that six-year-old me had something to do with making sure that her freaky elves lived to grace Urban Avenue with their presence for a few extra years. 

1 comment:

Brenda Geiser said...

You are definitely my crusader child! Doesn't it feel good that even at 6, you impacted your culture by saving one life (and many elves)? Love ya!