Rose Marie Hall

I had some really good friends when I was growing up. Interesting that they fell into two different groups. My neighborhood friends that I played with from morning til night, and the other friends that I saw everyday and with whom I survived the rigors of school. My neighborhood friends didn't have the privilege of wearing red plaid, pleated wool uniform skirts to school, but were able to wear whatever dress they liked everyday. I know life was hard for them, what with having to make those decisions each morning about what to wear, and I pitied them for it. But they seemed to do okay, and so did I. 

My  two best friends in school were Theresa Fernandez, and Rose Marie Hall. There was "something for everyone" in our class with 66 kids to choose from. And since each level had two classrooms, there were actually 132 in each grade. Lots of potential for buddies. I don't know exactly what drew the three of us together, but I DO know that there were the "in" girls, and we were most definitely "OUT"! Even though we wore uniforms, the cool girls wore them in such a way that they looked way better than the rest of us. 

Interesting how some girls are just able to do that. The status symbols were the shoes. The preferred shoes were the white oxfords with red soles, and only the stylish girls wore them. Those girls usually rolled up the  their skirts at the waist as well. That way they could pass length checks, which consisted of the skirts having to touch the ground when we kneeled down, but look more flattering when they were rolled up shorter. Not that this practice was accepted by the priests and nuns. A girl was given a stern "talking to" and a free trip to the principals office when the teacher noticed that she was rolling her skirt. 

There were also dire consequences when a girl was caught wearing make up. Anne Marie Diersing used to wear make up to school and then let her hair fall in front of her face so no one would notice. She kept her head kind of bowed down and would peek through her overgrown bangs, like the rest of us were idiots and didn't know what she was trying to hide. One day Sister Bernardia caught on to Anne Marie's make up wearing ways and took her to the bathroom where she demanded that she wash her face with Mr. Clean. THAT couldn't have been any fun!!

But my friends Theresa and Rose Marie and I managed to navigate school without getting into too much trouble, and discussed important things like deodorant vs. antiperspirant at recess and break times. When  you were wearing wool to school everyday and you lived in Southern California, those discussions were important! But I'll never forget the day when Rose Marie broke  me of ever eating bologna sandwiches again. 

We ate our lunches under an outdoor shelter and after running around at recess, we returned to our classroom for reading time. We would line up along the walls and take turns reading paragraphs. Rose Marie was next to me that fateful day and was in the middle of reading her paragraph when the bologna on wonder bread sandwich and milk she had for lunch "re-appeared".......... all over her reader. Time stood still as I looked at her and watched as she looked from the mess on her reader up to the nun at the front of the class. Huge tears formed in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. There was absolutely nothing worse for an "un-cool" girl than to blow chunks in the class room. My heart broke for her, but my stomach turned at the sight of the artistic display in front of her. And that spelled the end of my bologna eating days forever. 

I don't know what ever happened to Theresa and Rose Marie. But unlike bologna, they remain a part of the fabric of my life. Yeah. It's red plaid. 

His soul shall dwell at ease;

And his seed shall inherit the land.

The friendship of Jehovah is with them that fear Him;

And He will show them His covenant.

Mine eyes are ever toward Jehovah;

Ps. 25:13-15

First day of school 60's vintage

The Indians Social Life

Enjoying the last bit of summer

The Indians love to go out to lunch

And they love to make new friends. Meet Jen and Margarita!

They have their hairs done..........

......and go shopping for fabric.

Quick trip to the store.

And they really like to drive, but have a bit of a problem with the stick shift!

Playing trains is a new hobby

And when he comes home,

he calls together his friends and his neighbors, 

saying to them,

"Rejoice with me, 

for I have found my sheep which was lost!"

Luke 15:6

Mondays Grace 8/5/2013

I'm so thankful for godly friends who love me even though "I tend to be harsh and I scare people."

"May peace be within your walls,

And prosperity within your palaces."

For the sake of my brothers (and sisters!) 

and my friends,

I will now say "May peace be within you."

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will seek your good.

Ps. 122:7-9

Monday's Grace 7/29/2013

I'm so thankful for this wonderful tool for keeping up with family, friends, ministry, and household stuff!

For the sake of my brothers and my friends,

I will now say, "May peace be within you."

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will seek your good.

Ps. 112:8-9

Linking up to:

GraceLaced Mondays

10 on 10 Road Trip!

At points, we nearly washed away, but it was a successful trip nonetheless!!

An early start called for breakfast in the car

I think I should do a little dusting!

Photo by Debbie Burke

That screams "balanced meal" to me!

Photo by Debbie Burke

Community Bible Study

Photo by Michelle Clapham

Speaks for Itself

Photo by Michelle Clapham

You just never know what you'll see in some of these small towns!!

Photo by Michelle Clapham

This was kind of the story of the day

Photo by Debbie Burke

So, I spent the day at my friend Sue's. And "somehow", Jacobs Field "found it's way" into my bag. Oops. So, it must travel! Periodically, I'll be posting the "Indian's On The Road" to track it's experiences before it returns home.

Photo of Michelle Clapham's leg, by Michelle Clapham 

A nice dress just isn't complete without Under Armor

Started the day munching in the car, and ended it the same way. But at least this time I wasn't alone!

And I had help with the photo's because I WAS DRIVING THE CAR!!!

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in your book were all written

The days that were ordained for me,

When as yet, there was not one of them.

Ps. 139:16

Linking up to: A Bit of Sunshine

Eugene Price

I grew up in a part of the country that was outdoor playing weather 360 days of the year. We went out early and stayed out until the street lights came on. We drank from the hose……….. No, it’s not just something cute on facebook, we really DID drink from the hose. And there’s something really special about the taste of water that’s passed through a garden hose. I also lived with perpetual stubbed toes because I never wore shoes. My toes finally cleared up when I got a job and was required to wear shoes to work. No. I didn’t grow up in West Virginia.

I was raised in an era where you spent most of the time playing outside with the neighbor kids and all of us walked or rode our bikes to school together without a second thought. “Go out and play” didn’t mean go play in the fenced back yard. It meant go out pretty much wherever you wanted to go and play. You knew mom would yell for you when she needed you.

I had 3 pretty good friends in our neighborhood. Carol, Sandy, and Mona.  Interesting that I spent a lot of time playing with them, but I don’t remember us playing much as a group. Maybe because Mona was a couple of years younger. But she was an “only”, and I really liked her. We did a lot of fun stuff together. The first time I ever saw snow was with Mona. Her dad had a dichondra lawn and my favorite thing was to pull the tops off the stalks in strips to make roads through the grass for the matchbox cars. Mona’s dad was NOT a happy man when we had been playing cars on his front lawn!

I had two brothers, too. My older brother was nicknamed “Mingy” and the younger “Buns”. Mingy grew up to be called “Emperor Ming”, and also picked up other names along the way. “Squats to pee” was my favorite. Anyway, Ming’s favorite thing to do was to tease the neighborhood boys. He always had a creative way of finding their weak spot and tormenting them with it. And so we come to Eugene.

Eugene was my friend Carol’s older brother. They didn’t have nicknames in their family. And Eugene was a little bit quirky. I remember he would spit a lot when he talked. That’s really about all I recall about him personally, but I’ll never forget what Ming used to do to him.

You see, Eugene had a very weak stomach. If you said the word “barf”, he would. And so he became a target occasionally for my brother. I’ll never forget the day when Ming spit on the sidewalk and Eugene promptly threw up.  Yep. Ming spit again with the same result. And I’m pretty sure that summer, Eugene lost a lot of weight.

Eugene and Ming were actually friends. I guess friendship is just a little twisted when you’re 11. I often wonder what happened to Eugene. His family moved away when we were still kids. Perhaps they had an inclination that Ming would eventually become “Squats to Pee” and got out while they still could. 

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Prov. 17:17

 

Other Pursuits