Friday, 21 July 1989 1:20 A

I heard the most wonderful thing today! I had got home from babysitting a little before midnight, but what I’m talking about happened just before I went babysitting. It was just a few minutes to six P.M. and I was sitting in the living room talking with Barbara and Sarah. Then Barbara said something terrific; she said I was going to be an aunt again. I’m very happy about it! For some reason I had been thinking about that the last couple of days, too. Just a day or 2 before I was thinking how this would be the time to have a 2nd kid & I was wondering if they would soon. So I was a little bit expecting it. Even more amazing was I remembered a dream I had had when Sarah was a tiny baby. I dreamed that Barbara & Bob had 2 kids; a little girl about 2 or 3 and a baby boy. Much more recently – just the other night – I’d dreamed I was babysitting just next door and I had to go home for something. I took the older child – a girl of about 3 – and left the baby just learning to walk there, thinking I’d be right back. Now, in real life, I wouldn’t dream of leaving a child in the house by itself. Back to the dream; when I got back to the house, there was smoke coming out of the bottom of the door. An immediate & terrifying fear shot threw me. In the few seconds it took me to get to the door & into the house, I imagined several terrible things that could’ve happened. As it turns out, the baby was fine; the smoke was caused by something in the oven which was rapidly becoming well-done. Realizing the potential danger of leaving a toddler and a hot oven together alone made for more terrifying thoughts. Anyway, it was just a dream so no harm done.

1:46 A

Now I’m going to sleep so maybe I can catch Ed Grimley’s Completely Mental Misadventures “I must say.” Good Night! (Talk about sloppy writing!)

 

Thursday, 29 June 1989 5:16 P

To continue with my story, we stayed up all night playing UNO, playing video games, watching T.V., exercising, and going for late-night walks. In the end, we wound up falling asleep on the couch with the T.V. on at about 5:30. Dolly woke us up at about 6:15 to ask us about the bags. When she left, we hung around the house a little longer, taking showers & exercising. A little later, we walked with Patti’s bike to the mall, but it wasn’t going to open until 9:00, so we hung around in the mall’s laundromat, the only thing open there.

around 11:00 P

What we planned to do was buy a bike on sale, pay $5 to have this kid put it together, then bike home to pick up our bags & head for Dawn’s. Unfortunately, the kid wouldn’t get there until 4:00, but that didn’t make any difference because they were out of the bikes on sale. We ended up walking home with the bike. Before we got home, though, we passed an old-looking cemetery and I convinced Patti to stop there. We parked the bike a little way in and wandered off in separate directions to read the old tombstones. Just being in the cemetery gave you a sense of mystery and adventure. Nobody had been buried in over 30 years and most were from the 1800’s. It was just like the kind you see in scary movies, with the tombstones tilted to the side, some large monuments, most too worn to read, some half-buried, and some were stacked up or leaning against others. It was really eerie, even in the daytime. There were a bunch of kids playing nearby in their backyard, and you could just imagine all the adventures they would have there and the memories they would make. They had a little, white, scruffy dog that kept following us around, barking at us. You could tell he was really scared of us because he kept at least 5 feet away and would jump back if we moved in his direction. He added to the mystery, because it seemed as though he was protecting the spirits by trying to scare us away. Eventually we left and continued toward the downtown area. When we got there we stopped at the animal shelter. There was a small collie with his front paw & leg in what looked like a cast. Apparently he decided it would be fun to chase a lawn mower.

2:15 A

I just finished writing a letter to Raul, a hispanic guy whose a friend of Trevor’s, Patti’s boyfriend. I wrote it in all Spanish to see if he can translate it. Patti got out her camera & took a really cool picture of me without my glasses, then I took one of her with a small water gun. Her hair looked a really cool shade of red & really nice.

Anyway, at the animal shelter Patti adopted a furry white kitten with grey on top of her head. We couldn’t decide between Princess or Sugar.

 

Monday, 26 June 1989 10:58 A

I’ve got some interesting things to tell you. One of them is that about 11:00 last night the family left for home, after they debated whether to spend the night at Dolly & Patti’s and leave early in the morning. But, since none of us are such early risers as to wake up at 5:30 A.M. they decided to go home last night & arrive home at about 2:00 in the morning. Only when they left, they left me behind. At the last minute, with everyone in the car except me, Patti & I decided that it’d be fun to have me stay with them, but just for the week. Next weekend they were planning on going to see us in Springfield, anyway.

Another exciting thing that happened for me was my mom let me drive all the way from Gladys’s house in Franklin to Dolly’s in Clayton, which is about a 45-60 minute drive. I drove yesterday afternoon, with Mom next to me & the kids behind me. I was terrified (well, not quite) that I’d screw something up & get us all in an accident. Mom kept complaining that I drove too close to the side of the road, but I don’t like to drive right next to the yellow line with cars going 60 mph in the opposite direction doing the same thing.

11:25 A

At the same time I was driving, Joey (whom we picked up at Dale & Nancy’s), Susie, & Angie were fighting over the radio very loudly. First, “Like a Prayer” by Madonna was playing and Joey & Susie were singing along. So Angie started arguing with Joey, saying he shouldn’t sing that song because it was evil.

 

April 1989

I gaze out the window. It looks so warm out, so why is it so cold? It’s already the middle of April, and we still have some snow in our driveway. I glance at the clock. Still ten minutes until class is over and I can relax by my locker, finishing my school work. My bus won’t come for another 25 minutes. Then I’ll walk on and find a seat with some shy seventh-grader and won’t say a word. I’ll look forward as though I’m bored, as though I don’t mind not having anyone to talk to. I’ll listen to the other juniors behind me, laughing and making jokes. Almost all of them smoke, they all swear. Slowly the bus gets less crowded; soon I’ll be home. Then I’ll wait another 1/2 hour for my little sister, the 3rd-grade pessimist. Maybe I’ll take a nap, maybe I’ll read a book. I’ll wait some more, until 8:00, when I’ll go babysitting. The children will soon be in bed, then I’ll wait, wait. Wait for the parents to come home. Then, when I’m home, I’ll crawl into bed and sleep until tomorrow.

At last, the bell!

Thursday, 9 March 1989

It all started exactly one week ago. We knew the day before that our grandma was very ill. We also knew several relatives were coming down to see her. For that reason, we were told to clean the house as soon as we got home. At 3:30 Joey, Angie, and I bounded off the bus happily, excited about seeing our cousins. We ate chocolate pudding as our after-school lunch, watched “OPRAH” on T.V., danced around to Footloose, and did basic cleaning.

I remember the phone kept ringing, interrupting me as I made supper. My mom called a couple times for messages and info about the relatives. One time my cousins called and we all talked to Katie. Katie is now 12, but we haven’t seen her since she was about 9 years old. There was a big dispute between Katie’s mom and the rest of the family that kept us apart. It’s hard to tell exactly when it started. It could’ve started when Grandma was driving at night with Katie in the car when Katie was about 6 or 7. My grandma accidentally went off the edge of the road and into the ditch. Katie wasn’t hurt in the least; in fact, she was sleeping in the back seat at the time, and when the car was stopped she rolled onto the floor and continued to sleep. But for some reason Martha was very upset. She wrote a cruel letter to my Grandma that is believed to have caused her to have a minor heart attack, which began a series of medical problems.

I think Lou had a lot to do with the bitterness between Martha and the rest of the family which developed later on. Lou is Martha 2nd husband. She remarried about 4 or 5 years ago, after having written to him several times. That is how they met. I think it was Martha who put the ad in the paper about wanting a pen pal. They began to write to each other, then talked on the phone. After a while, Lou came to visit and soon they were married. Ever since then, things became heated. Lou is a quiet, fat, and bald man. He barely talks to the adults and never smiles. One of the first things he did were to make Katie give all her toys away. Many were given to us. Soon Katie was calling him “Daddy,” whether by force or choice, I’m not sure.

It is also believed by some that it started a couple summers ago, when we all got together to clean Grandma’s house. Apparently George made a small comment to Martha that some of us already knew what we were getting. George doesn’t remember saying that, but Martha said he did & ever since Martha’s been writing extremely wicked letters to Grandma, saying we were stealing her [Grandma's] money, we were not letting Martha have any of Grandma’s things, and that she was going to take us to court when Grandma dies. Then she tells Grandma that she [Martha] & Jesus love her, & we’ll be punished by God.

Friday, 3 March 1989

Grandma died; big blizzard.

Saturday, 25 February 1989 10:38 P (2/28)

Mom, Dolly, and Angie left early to visit Grandma. Dale, Nancy, and Jenny were already there. They were gone until late (around 8:00, I think). Dale & his family never stopped at the house, so I didn’t see them. Aren’t my new “I’s” really wierd? I just need practice. I didn’t get out of bed until afternoon, then I sat around all day. What a lazy person I am! I want to be a teacher some day. I also want to go to Spain the summer after I graduate. Denice Stifler might go. Mr. Jaden, my Typing II teacher, is always so optimistic. I’m so glad I have him. He inspires me.

Friday, 10 February 1989 12:26 A

I will probably never forget the little Arabic boy whom I sat for w/his 2 brothers today. It was my first day in Admitting as a Junior Volunteer at Sacred Heart. I was busy sorting printout sheets when Linda came to ask me to watch these little boys while their mother was being treated. Only the 6-year-old knew English & the youngest was with his dad. That left the little 4-year-old. When I walked in, the 2 boys were coloring at a little table. The oldest was out-going & entertaining as he tried to remember English words. But the little Arabic 4-year-old just sat coloring, not making any noises, except occasional sniffs, with big tears rolling down his cheeks. He was so lovable.

Thursday, 2 February 1989 11:09 P

Mom has a “wall” where she likes to tape things up: good articles, art projects, recent pictures from faraway relatives. Now, among a few other things, are my report card, my tutoring article, and my letter of appreciation from the principal at Jefferson. The relatives are coming this weekend and they’re going to think I’m conceited. Especially when I begin to get on their case about smoking on our property. Jenny seems to be my only cousin I can relate to because she isn’t the smoking/black clothes type like Trudy or the “Grab a boyfriend & Party” type like Patti. We worked out a schedule for my volunteer services at Sacred Heart. Every Friday after school until 6:00. Starting 2/10.

2 February 1989

Always write. Keep writing. Don’t stop ’til the bell rings. What do you say? Not important. Anything. Just keep writing. If you stop you are lost. And you really must stop falling. It’s embarrassing and doesn’t help your grades. And you want to keep all those A’s don’t you? B’s won’t do. No, not anymore. Jack said first quarter is always easiest. It’s harder 2nd, 3rd, & 4th. Chemistry is almost as bad as Spanish III. I’m getting better, though. What makes a heavy metal song? Tight jeans & a screeching guitar. That’s not music; that’s a headache. I hope to hear Deacon John’s music some day. The music he heard while he was drowning. Nothing like it on earth. Am I on the National Honor Society? How do you get on, if not with straight A’s? Ignorance is a funny thing. The more ignorant you are, the smarter you seem, or think you are. What else? Life is sweet. Happy all the time. Depressed occasionally. Best when simple. Problems make panic. Simplicity is special. Lectures are boring. Assonance? Is that the word I’m thinking of? Writing jargon is fun. Jargon. I like that word. DT 52 52. DT 51 53. Closure. Autism. Funny, isn’t it? I think so. Future, bright and dark. Chocolate chunks. Sexagesima: 2nd Sunday before Easter (60 days before Easter). Sexagesimal: of, relating to, or based on the # 60.