Thursday, May 6, 2021

Boomer Fads

 


Let's start with the fifties. 

    Contrary to popular belief, we didn't wear saddle shoes and poodle skirts in the mid and late fifties. We did wear bobby socks, most often with white Keds. To clean the shoes (never washed in the machine) we used white shoe polish! Although our skirts didn't usually sport a poodle, circle skirts with scratchy crinolines underneath were popular–the more pouf the better. These came in handy if the teacher was handing out "swats".  And, yes, I did get a few with a wooden paddle–most often administered by the male teachers. 
    I, like most of the girls, wore a ponytail with side bangs and "spit curls''. These curls, right under the temple, were formed with bobby pins or clippies. In a pinch, we used (you probably guessed it) spit.
     Hula hoops were a major fad that I embraced fully. I mastered the art and was able to start at my neck, keep it spinning down to my waist, up and down my arms, and finally to my hips. 
     I had lots of pop-beads. My grandpa gave me a strand of pink ones the day I came home from camp. I think they might still be in my old jewelry box. 
 
Moving on to the sixties.

    I started high school in 1960 and finished college in 1968. You might say that I grew up in the fifties and came of age in the sixties. 
    "Going steady" was sixties version of what my grandchildren call "dating." To mark this commitment, we wore our boyfriend's initial ring, around which we wrapped multiple layers of angora thread or adhesive tape covered with nail polish. Either of these left a large wad on the inside of the ring finger–the bigger the better. When the relationship ended, as they most often did, we had to cut the tape or string off with a razor blade.
    Two of my favorite pastimes in high school were TP-ing and bushwhacking. To TP a house, we chose a target, usually a friend, sometimes an enemy, and collected TP for a week or so. Late on a weekend night (curfew allowing), we would sneak up to the house, roll the paper around and over, throw it up in the trees and all around the bushes. The more rolls used, the better the job.    
     Bushwhacking involved surprising couples on lovers' lane with lights and horns. One of our guy friends, Nick Podoba, actually had a blue police light that he stuck on the top of his car! Illegal, I'm sure. I'm surprised we didn't get arrested or killed by some angry, interrupted lovers. Can you say,  coitus interruptus😁 Although in those days most of the kids were just making out not doing the dirty deed.
    On to college, where–being a fashionista–I was all into the fashion fads. I loved white go-go boots and mini-dresses. One of my favorites was a Courrege-style color-block dress with white leather boots. I think my future husband liked that one, too.
    Panty-raids were a big deal on campus. Frat boys (at MacMurray one of the men's dorms) would somehow gain entrance to a women's dorm, run frantically into the rooms, tearing open drawers, and snatching what were then called unmentionables. This, of course, was a clandestine activity that could lead to punishment for the participants, who usually wore face coverings. Once, when my roommate and I had a first-floor room in Jane Hall, Blackstock guys chose our window as an entry point–a total surprise to us! We were in bed, curlers in hair, when they threw up the sash causing me to wet my pants.😱
    As a lifeguard and swimmer, I spent lots of time at the pool during my high school and college years. Itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka-dot bikinis may have been popular on the West Coast, but the fad was a little slower coming to the Midwest. I had a few two-piece suits that came just below the navel. Regardless of what I had on my body, I wore a colored swim cap heavily adorned with flowers. These fashion statements did nothing to keep hair dry for us serious swimmers. I even wore one in diving competitions and, of course, for synchronized swimming shows.
    These are some of the fads that I embraced. What about you?

Friday, March 5, 2021

Never Ending Love

Family–where life begins and love never ends.

 I have been so blessed to love and be loved throughout my seventy-four years. I was surrounded with love from the day I was born from my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and, of course, my husband. When I'm overcome with sadness and missing my family, it helps to remember that their love has made me who I am and will forever be a part of me even though we have been parted temporarily by death. Listen to the words of this song and I guarantee that your spirits will be lifted as you are reminded that "all the love is still inside."


Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Desperately Seeking Connection

 God created us for relationship with Him and with other human beings. Even the avowed introvert (like me) needs friends, community, and meaningful interaction. While on-line ministry enables us to pray for one another across distances, nothing can replace face-to-face connection–an element sadly missing in today's world.

Fifty years ago we were connected geographically to friends and family. Our relatives lived within traveling–often walking–distance. Our churches and schools and businesses were in our neighborhoods, but as travel became easier and cheaper, our world expanded. Educational and job opportunities carried us far from our roots. As families were separated by long distances, maintaining connection became more difficult. Still, before the advent of the computer and the world wide web, we kept in touch by telephone and snail-mail.

 

Modern technology for all of its benefits has caused more isolation. Texting and messaging, while facilitating information exchange, actually impede meaningful communication.  Social media is but a feeble attempt to remedy the disconnect many feel. We acquire hundreds of "friends" who wouldn't know us if they passed us on the street. Meaningful conversation has been replaced by superficial exchanges masquerading as communication. Instead of, "What are you thinking? What do you believe? Who are you?", we ask, "What are you doing? Who are you with? What are you eating?”


Even before 2020, we were desperately seeking connection but the covid pandemic has intensified our need. Finding a small group–a Bible study, a friend group, support group, or shepherding group–even if it must be on Zoom–can meet this need. Real communication involves truths--getting beyond the veneers and facades to a level where we share our basic humanity.

Thursday, January 7, 2021

What-ifs and If-onlys and Even-if



Right now many of us are plagued by what-ifs–borrowing trouble, worrying about the future, catastrophizing. What if schools never reopen? What if I lose my job? What if theaters and sports venues never open? What if the economy doesn't recover?

Shel Silverstein one of my favorite poet-philosophers so aptly describes this phenomenon:



"Last night while I lay thinking here,
Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear.
And danced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song."

Or maybe you're troubled by the if-onlys–should've, would've, could've thinking.  If-only I had kept that mammogram appointment. If-only I had never smoked.  If-only I had listened to my mother. This frame of mind is common during the grieving process. If-only I had spent more time with him. If-only I had taken her for that appointment. If-only I had been kinder.

What-ifs and if-onlys are both a waste of time and energy. What's done is done; we can't change the past. And we have no control over what will happen tomorrow. They are flip sides of the same coin and indicate a lack of trust in God.

I admit, some days the What-ifs and If-onlys crawl inside my ears.  "If-only" Jim hadn't died. "What-if" I develop dementia? "What-if" I run out of money?

Are you plagued by the If-onlys or What-ifs? Ask God to help you live in the present, not lamenting the past or fearing the future. When you are doubting God, remember that "Even-if" He doesn't answer our prayers immediately, we must trust that He is able.

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

2020–A Good Year for Bibliomanics

 "It's an ill wind that blows nobody good." Sir Walter Scott


 Yes, I am a bibliomaniac. I once said that if I were ever held hostage I hoped it would be in a bookstore. Now I am held hostage by the Covid epidemic, but I'm not in a bookstore!

We bibliomaniacs–especially those who also suffer from abibliophobia–have fared better than most during the shelter at home directives. At last, we who have been criticized for the stacks of unread books accumulating in every corner and at our bedsides have been vindicated!

Here are my favorites from 2020 with ratings but no reviews.


The Book of Lost Friends-Lisa Wingate  *****
The Child on Platform One-Gill Thompson *****
28 Summers-Elin Hildebrand ****
Big Lies in a Small Town-Diane Chamberlain ****
The Book of Lost Names-Kristin Harmel *****
The Last Flight-Julie Clark****
A Time for Mercy-John Grisham *****
If I Were You-Lynn Austin **** 
Florence Adler Swims Forever- Rachel Beanland ****
Regretting You-Colleen Hoover ****
White Ivy-Susie Wang ****
American Dirt-Jeanine Cummins *****
Harbinger II:  The Return-Jonathan Cahn *****