Wednesday 16 April 2014

Five Things About Me



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I thought it would be fun and a bit different this morning to share with you five things you might not know about me.   I hope you don't mind.    It's not narcissistic . . . just something different to talk about.  So here we go . . .

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I am the oldest of three children.   That's me on the far left, my sister Cindy on the right, and my brother David in front.  I think I was about 6 or 7 in this photo.   I got my first job when I was 6 years old.  It was cleaning telephone booths.   Where we lived there at that time (RCAF Base Gimli, Manitoba) there weren't a lot of people that had telephones in their homes.  In fact we didn't get a telephone until I was around 9 or 10.  There were about half a dozen phone booths scattered through the married quarters or PMQ's as they were called.   The boy across the road was the telephone booth cleaner, but when they got posted away, his mother asked my mother if I would like to do it.  I said sure!  I had a bucket and some sponges, and a few other bits and I would walk around to each booth (it was a very small area) and clean the glass and floor, etc. for which I got paid the huge sum of $1 a week.  It was hard work, especially at Halloween when kids had thrown eggs at them and stuff.   I did it though and I saved my money, earning enough to buy my own Brownie Uniform, two wheeled bicycle (as well as a basket for it and a horn) and my very own Barbie doll.


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I used to be left handed, and still do a lot of things with my left hand.   When I was five I burned the whole surface of my left hand very badly on the stove.   We had a solid burner electric stove.  I used to like to get up and watch my mother cooking.  I would stand on the garbage bin which was next to the stove.  My mother had been cooking on this particular day and just taken something off the burner and turned it off.  I went to get up to watch and when I did I put my hand down on the burner in an attempt to push myself up onto the garbage bin.   It was very badly burnt.   I can remember it being excruciatingly painful.  I had to go the hospital.   They dressed it, but it developed a huge blister which covered the whole palm of my hand and fingers.   My mother sewed a flannel pouch to keep over it so that it would keep clean.  Each day she would dress it with these special gauze dressings and then put the flannel pouch over it.  It tied at my wrist.   I was in kindergarten at the time.   I was off school for a few days.   When I did go back I wasn't able to use it and so I was taught to write with my right hand.  We used to have nap time at school.  We all had little sleeping mats that would be spread out onto the floor and we would have to lay there quietly for fifteen minutes or so.   At the end of the time, we would roll up our mats and put them away.  One day after nap time as I was standing up (on the mat) getting ready to roll my mat up a classmate pulled the mat out from under me and I fell onto my hand and broke the blister. That was really painful, I can remember screaming with the pain.  Our next door neighbour's daughter was in Grade 8.  I think her name was Sharon Dukamon.   She brought me home.   And that's the story of how a left hander became a right hander.

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I've only ever had three "steady" boyfriends and I married all three of them.  Not all at once mind you!  That would not have been right!  I got married the first time when I was 19 years old, which is when this photograph was taken.

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I think I was not that bad looking. I know I only weight about 100 pounds at that time, which was slightly less than 7 1/2 stone.  I won't tell you what I weigh now!   Some people might think it odd that I keep these photographs, but I will never look like that again and this experience is all a part of what made me who I am today.  The marriage did not last long.   We were young and things did not work out.  My oldest son, Anthony is from that marriage.    As I said yesterday everyone should have an Anthony in their lives.  He is my treasure and the best thing to come out of that ill fated marriage.  

I married again at 21 and had four more children over the next 22 years.  I have no wedding pictures of that union.  My ex did not believe in big weddings or church weddings.  We got married by a Justice of the Peace in his living room in Calgary, Alberta.  It cost us $25 which we paid for with nickles and dimes that we rolled from out of a piggie bank. That didn't work out either in the end.   I saved the best for last however . . .  my Todd.  I was 45 when we got married  It was the best thing I ever did, marrying him.   We are not just married til death do we part, but sealed together for time and all eternity in a Temple of the Lord.   That may not be some people's cup of tea, but it is ours.   When you love someone enough to marry them, why not make it for time and all eternity.  ☺

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This is me when I was about 9 months old.   I was born with a growth on my forehead, a cyst I guess it was called.  You can almost see it in this photograph on the left hand side of my upper forehead.   It got larger as I got older.   When I was 9 years old it had begun to grown into my skull and the Doctor thought it should be removed and so I had an operation to have it taken off.  I remember being in the hospital overnight and sharing a room with a grouchy old woman who did nothing but grumble at me the whole time.  I was scared of her.  I thought she was mean.   I had to be awake for the operation, but they gave me something to keep me docile.   I remember them putting something white over my eyes so I couldn't see what was going on, but I could hear it and feel the tugging etc. as they cut into my forehead.  I remember the white cloth turning red.  It was quite a traumatic experience actually and I have never liked hospitals since!  I have a nice scar on my forehead where the cyst once was.  I cover it up with my bangs.

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I started smoking when I was 17, just sharing puffs off of people's cigarettes at the bus stop waiting for the school bus.  The single, most colossal, absolutely stupidest thing I ever did.  I smoked for 17 years, quitting when I was 34.  When I quit I was smoking a pack of 25 a day.   Quitting was the hardest thing I ever did, but I did it and am glad I did.   If I could change one thing in my life it would be that I had never ever smoked at all.   Mind you my mother smoked for all of my growing up years so I had a lot of years of breathing in second hand smoke anyway, and they say that is worse.   With all of the information that is out there today about smoking, and it's adverse effects, I am astonished that anyone still smokes, or even begins smoking.  It is so NOT cool!

And there you have it five things about me.  Hope that I did not bore you!

A thought to carry with you through today . . .

(¯`✻´¯) 
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"If your actions inspire others to dream more, 
learn more do more and become more, 
you are a leader."
~John Quincey Adams 
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Cooking in The English Kitchen today . . . Mediterranean Herb Baked Chicken.   Delicious!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

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13 comments:

  1. Lovely to read a wee bit more about your past Marie..what a shame abou you burning your wee hand...strange that you didn't go back to being left handed once your hand healed...did it leave much of a scar ?...I can hardly believe you were allowed to "work" at such a young age...but good on you, you certainly learnt the work ethic at an early age...
    It is another glorious morning down here, hoping it is the same with you. and that you can get out to enjoy it. Masy is lying on teh settee in teh sunshine at this moment , she loves the sun and looks so cute !! xxx

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  2. Six seems impossibly young for such a job. Wow I am proud of you.

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  3. Suzan, six does seem really young for a job, but I was incredibly responsible at that age. I had been going to the store for my mother with notes since I was three years old! Seriously! When I think back now I can't believe it myself, but it's true! It was a much simpler time then. We lived in much smaller communities and everybody knew everybody, and looked out for each other. Nobody walked me to school. My mother took me on the first day and that was it. I was on my own from then on in. That's the way it was for everyone. We never felt afraid or unsafe. It wasn't a hard job, but it did teach me the value of work!

    Sybil Mitzie is loving the sunshine too! I can just imagine how cute Masy is. I would love to see a photograph of her!

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  4. That was really interesting, Marie. And as if you could EVER bore us!

    I'm left handed - one of the last of those children whom the nuns tried to force to write with their right hand. It didn't work. Apparently I began to mirror write so they were forced to let me write with my left hand.

    I would never have pictured you as a smoker. That's one habit I'm so glad that I never started. It simply didn't appeal to me, although it was rather trendy for women when I was young and the feminist movement started. I wonder how mant regret that "freedom" to smoke today.

    It's lovely to read about your childhood and see pictures of you. I'd have known you straight away - you really haven't changed at all. And as you say, the experiences you've had - good and bad have made you the person you are today. I just wish that you and Todd had met earlier in life and had each other from the beginning. You seem such a contented, loving couple. Better late than never :-)

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  5. Oh, thank you Marie. You are so kind. I still do a lot with my left hand, it's quite weird. My maternal grandfather was ambidextrous. I wish Todd and I had met earlier in life too. It would have been nice to have a family, but you can't redo the past, only make the future better and that's what I am doing! xxoo

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  6. Enjoyed reading more about you. 5 things I didn't know before. I was only married once and feel that was for eternity. He died some 20 years ago now and I never met anyone else that could take his place. Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday. We had an April snow yesterday and I'm hoping it melts today.

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  7. Me too I smoked:)So glad that is a thing of the way past..at least 20 yrs ago..I never ever miss it.Yet I couldn't answer the phone w/out one or start the car.. back then without one.LOL
    There..our confessions are made..
    Hope my little ones never pick up that habit..
    I only married once also..at 20..but my husband had been married before..Long before I met him..
    We all have little stories..
    You remember everything Marie..
    Great great memory..and talent..and Happy ever after:)

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  8. I am ambidextrous; my mother was left-handed, and the iron etc was always set up for her, so I just used it, and still do.
    You were (and are) beautiful xx

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  9. Pam, you are so blessed to have found your eternal companion first time around! I wish I had been so blessed. It is one of my life's greatest regrets that I never made wiser choices sooner. I am sure you will be together eternally too. April snows are not very welcome are they? By April we are wanting flowers, not snow!

    Monique, likewise you are blessed to have found your eternal companion the first time around, for you anyways! I am glad you quit smoking as well. It is so hard to do but so worth it. None of my children smoke and I hope my Grand's never do either.

    Bunny thank yo uso much. You are so kind to say what you do. God bless you. xxoo

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  10. Thank you for sharing Marie. You were a stunning bride; and yes, I'm so happy you finally found your prince. There's hope for me yet!!

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  11. You were beautiful...and even more so now...You sine from inside out. Hope your day is lovely.oooxxx

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  12. Very interesting Marie - I enjoyed reading. And I loved that wedding dress. :) blessings, marlene

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  13. There is always hope Sandy! It will happen!

    Thanks Cathy Joy! You are a treasure!

    THanks so much Marlene. The dressed was borrowed. It had been my ex sister in law's. Thankfully it fit without any alterations. On her it had been ballerina length, on me well, you can see!

    xxoo

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