Connie's Corner

Memoir meeting...

I had a great memoir class meeting yesterday. Ten of us showed up and everyone had a story prepared (I read my Dancing in the Moonlight story). Each of us is from such a varied background, yet we all are alike. That thought keeps running through my head.

Our "leader" had the funniest story about the first house she bought back in the 1960s. From what I could tell it was built by a real novice with the roof line in front and back being so low, the windows had to be set lower than normal, bottoms close to the floor. Standing up at the inside edges had to be done carefully depending on how tall you were. Good thing she is short. The house was left completely furnished (an estate sale) and required lots of refurbishing to be livable. After begging and borrowing most of her downpayment, she did a lot of the work herself. There was an old stool left in the bathroom, an ugly old stool, wooden with a homemade cushioned top. Trying to salvage everything she could, she decided a paint job and a pretty cushion might might make it usable. She ripped off the ugly material and an envelope dropped out with someone's name on it, a fat envelope. Inside were several crisp hundred dollar bills in numerical sequence. Surprised (very) at first, then she wondered if they might be counterfeit, but, no, they were real. Due to her young age and the time period (1960s), she thought she might be "convicted" of stealing if anyone found out, so she decided to spend her found money on fix-up expenses a little at a time. And that is what she did, never telling anyone. Her version was a WHOLE lot funnier than mine.

Another lady wrote about a friend, now an ex-friend, who showed up on her doorstep every night to share a drink, one drink she said. She told us how she finally got rid of her, not a pleasant tale. Someone else wrote about keepsakes in her cedar chest and brought in a little blue pinafore-type dress that all her daughters wore when they were teeny. It was from Spain and had the prettiest handwork around the top I've ever seen. Actually, I've never seen anything like it and don't know how it was done, not embroidery, not smocking. I will try a little research.

Our leader had an email she shared with us from someone who attended the class awhile back but quit coming because he could not hear. He has hearing aids, but they did not help enough. He asked if we would consider moving our meeting to a place designed with better acoustics, and the place he suggested sounds very interesting, the Friends Meetinghouse (Quakers, for those who might not be acquainted with the term). It is close by, and we have an investigating committee of two checking it out for our next meeting.

So...I had a very nice day yesterday. Everyone was friendly and talkative and we ran way past our quitting time. Our normal meeting, the first Thursday of each month, was cancelled due to a bad storm so this one was a sort of put-together at last minute one, but turned out to be the best so far. Our next meeting is on July 11 because the library is closed on the 4th. Looking forward to it already.

until next time...c