Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Where Am I From?

I am from cool, black soil; fields of grain and changing seasons
From Brownie Scouts, Nancy Drew, piano lessons
And mom baking cookies after school
I am from high school sweethearts married over 60 years

I am from mini-skirts, hot pants and suede jackets with fringe
Kent State, Woodstock and "Give Peace a Chance"
The Beatles, the Stones and Mama Cass "California Dreamin'"
Where have all the flowers gone?

I am from college dorms and term papers
Lost dreams and dreams found again
I am from marrying young and lasting
I am a mother and a daughter, a parent and a child.

I am of cookbooks and novels
White tulips and peach roses
I am from blue jeans and turtlenecks
Penny loafers and boots

I am from war and peace and war again
I am a work in progress; always learning, always growing
I am a child of man, a child of the world, a child of God
I am from joy and love, hopeful about what is yet to come

11/24/06


     Are there things from your past that immediately throw you back to childhood? A certain perfume, a song or the smell of your mother's cooking? All of those things can immediately take me back to a different time. I had that experience a few days ago when my husband and I were walking out of a "Books-a-Million" store. We had already paid for our purchases and were headed for the door when I saw this book:



     I stopped in my tracks, saw the $5 sale tag and my husband picked up a copy and headed back to the checkout counter. You see, he knows that hours of my youth were spent reading Nancy Drew. Every Christmas I would get 3 or 4 new ones and of all the wonderful things under the tree...those books are what I remember the most. I was immediately 10-years-old again. I didn't even care if other customers wondered about the middle-aged woman, hugging her oversized Nancy Drew book and jumping for joy!

Where are you from?

21 comments:

Maya @ Completely Coastal said...

So neat that you stumbled upon that book! I'm not brought back too often, but it's the smells in the air that do it for me..., remembering moments in nature, places where I played and were taken on vacations.

Blondie's Journal said...

Sue,

This is a wonderful poem, so personal to you but applies to me as well. I love it.

Having 3 older sisters, the Nancy Drew books were passed down to me as they were read. How anxious I was! I read all of them. The book you have is awesome!! What great memories you brought back.

xoxo
Janie

The Quintessential Magpie said...

That was beautiful, Sue. Loved reading this.

Before being separated from my computer, I thought I would catch up with some of my blogging friends. And I think I will let this be my last post till I'm reuinted with Old Faithful again...

I am from rich dark earth filled with bright white bolls strewn along fall roadsides, oranges bright under heaven's bluest sky, beaches with white sugar sand that stretch before the sun like subjects prostrate before a king, places old and sometimes ancient filled with horse carriages and hucksters alike, churches (old) with stained glass windows and worshippers who reverence not only the Word but those who bring it. I am from manners well bred and far more important in value than the size of one's purse.

I am from ski boats, straw boaters, higher education, and cats of all kinds. I am from Tennessee Walkers and tiny box turtles. I am from Toy Fox Terriers and Lassies, Min Pins and Irish Setters. I am from blue Schwin bikes, pink telephones, and dark mahogany furniture. I am from dance, flute, and piano lessons, slumber parties and fancy dress balls. I am from playhouses and monkey swings, horseback riding and hide 'n seek. I am from tea parties and Barbies, lemonade stands and picnic lunches. I am from lightening bugs in jars, penny candy, and porch swings in twilight.

I am from sorority girl to masters degree to wife. I am from auntie mame to godmother to magpie. I am from volunteer to career woman to volunteer to blogger to volunteer. ;-)

I am from camelias, azaleas, gardenias, and magnolias. I am yellow roses on lattice and ivy covering cisterns. I am from oak trees with Spanish moss and slash pines harboring eagles. I am from egrets and mocking birds. Flamingos and herons. I am from old silver, real pearls, and Dixieland jazz. I am from "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." I am from a father who knew how to love his wife, and a wife who adored and honored her husband. I am from boy cousins and girl siblings. I am from a grandmother who was the definition of the word. And I am from a marriage that has lasted for over half my life.

My favorite writers are women and sometimes men who know a thing or two.

XO,

Sheila :-)

Sue said...

Sheila-thank you for taking the time to do this. It is beautiful and tells so much about who you are. I loved reading it.

nannykim said...

Cool--I like that poem thingy. I too loved Nancy Drew and I read one again last year for old times sake. The Nancy Drew series, The Daina Girls and The Hardy Boys all are what turned me on to reading.

Sandy aka Doris the Great said...

I love your poem. May I steal your idea? (I am from a lot of your stuff too.)

DUTA said...

It looks like it's important to people who they are, what they are, where they are from. Sometimes you hear someone saying: 'what does all this matter, we are all human beings'. Well, it does matter.
Beautiful poem!

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

Loved this post today Sue...
I am from when school was cool
Hippies were in
all about Love
When family was everything
Beehive hairdo's ( A small village could live in the one I had)
White weddings meant you were pure
when the only ones with tattoos were sailors
when piercing was for ears only
when seat bealts were unheard of
leaded paint cribs were in
when Elvis was dirty with his hips ( before it was cool to grab your grocth and call it music)
when Ed Sullivan was what you watched each Sunday.
when you left the room when your folk had company.
when you said Please and Thank you.
when you left town to visit your sick Grandma if you were PG and in school.
When the only Pot we had was in the Kitchen to cook with...ha ha!!
Hope you have a GREAT day my friend...Hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

Cindy (Applestone Cottage) said...

Sounds so familiar Sue. I was on romper room when we lived in Peoria. I just found a Romper Room book and boy did that take me back. Thanks for the lovely post. Cindy

dee dee said...

Sue,
I love who you are! Where you've been and were you're going! The poem is amazing, thank you for sharing. Very inspiring and took me back to my own childhood! My daughter still love Nancy Drew books, and I love that she learns a whole "new language" when she reads them! Like when Nancy puts on her pumps... were aren't talking about bikes!
Dee Dee

Gypsy Heart said...

Sue, I loved this! Thanks so much for sharing ~
I will try to return and add to it.

xoxo
Pat

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Great post! I am visiting on the run (as usual) and will try and get back and post my "I am from" also.

Someone's Daughter said...

I can't wait to borrow this! Like minds think alike, considering I almost bought it like 2 weeks before you did! I remember my childhood borrowing your Nancy Drew books that were from your childhood!

Glennis said...

Wonderful, Sue. I was a Nancy Drew fanatic as a young girl. I think I must have had 100 books. I especially liked the older editions, from the 40s and early 50s with roadsters, etc.

There is a marvelous non-fiction book about the books, the authors, and the cultural phenomenon of Nancy Drew - http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Sleuth-Nancy-Women-Created/dp/015603056X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266382734&sr=1-2

That was a fun read, I recommend it.

Unknown said...

Wonderful post! You reminded me of all those Nancy Drew books I read as a girl! Have a sweet day!

J Rodney said...

This is a wonderful piece Sue. I never read Nancy Drew, when I was growing up, but I had many other favorites (most in Danish. I know I spent a great deal of time with my nose in a book.

honeysuckle said...

I can relate to many of the thingsin your post. I loved Nancy Drew when I grew up and longed for my next one even as I was reading the current one. They are such a treasure when you find them. Maybe you could display one in a shadow box as a reminder and nod to who you are and your childhood. Thanks for the nostalgia today. Have a wonderful time reading and rereading your treasure!

Unknown said...

I have two AWARDS!!! for you, because you're a SWEETHEART!!! and I have and award for you come by and visit so you can receive it.
Geri

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

I love that! How fun that you were able to find it and buy it. What a great feeling! There are certain smells that take me back to my childhood. And some things like those shoeslaces with the alligators or hearts on them that wee popular in the 80's. Or preppy things like old lacoste shirts and Members Only jackets. How fun. I love this post - what a wonderful thing to talk about.

XOXO
Jen

Americana Lady said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
BrightenedBoy said...

Please don't take this the wrong way, because I mean it as a compliment in every sense of the word, but I was very surprised at how good that poem was.

It's not that anything in your writing suggests you wouldn't be able to produce quality poetry, it's just that such a thing is elusive and you don't expect it to jump out at you from a random corner of the Internet.

I usually don't care for non-rhyming verse, but I really liked this. It's so evocative and relatable and paints such a sweet picture of you. It made me smile.