Friday, February 25, 2011

The Passing Of Time

Easter 1943 (April 25)

This year Easter was a great disappointment. For one thing, it was dark and damp. Nobody want to go parading in her best clothes when it's raining. Then, the war prevented many of the gay things that usually go with Easter. There was none of the gaily colored Easter eggs, great big chocolate eggs or rabbits, or baskets filled with eggs. Cookies and cake made a poor substitute for young children. It's too common. They can have it everyday. Easter is a special day, and they should have special food.
The first thing we did on Easter morning was to go to church. My little cousin, who is only four months old, was baptized. My uncle was carrying him because it is customary for the father to carry the baby. All the fathers, mothers, and babies were lined up in front when my cousin decided he wanted to cry. My uncle did everything he could to make him stop crying, but Harry cried until just before he reached the minister. Jean, who is about five, got excited because her brother was crying that she got up and tried her best to see up to the front.
After church it was too damp to go out so I stayed at home and finished a library book that was due the next day. This Easter was so different from other Easters, since my brother wasn't at home, that it seems as if Easter is still to come. I suppose our boys feel the same way. They'll do a lot of celebrating when they come home to make up for the celebrating they've missed.

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My Greatest Ambition

All my life I have had but one great desire, and that is to travel all over the world. The places i have the greatest urge to visit are: India, Africa, China, and Tibet. I will give my reasons for wanting to visit these places in particular.
India always made me think of Maharajhas or of the different classes of people refusing to mingle or intermarry. Not only the people but the country itself draws my attention. Forest, or rather jungles, wild animals, and the cities.
Africa makes me think of deserts, unexplored country, and heat--definitely heat. I'd love to go into unexplored country and discovery new things and see beautiful animals and scenery.
China, the oriental section of the world, always makes me think of silks, and incense. The weird buildings and the superstitions. The long pig-tails the Chinamen wear have always held a special attraction for me, but only the people who live further inland wear them nowadays.
Tibet, that land of mystery holds a great fascination for me. I have read stories about men going into the unexplored mountains and never coming back. It is said that some of the high priests are over a hundred years old. They put great store in the proverb that the older you grow the wiser you get. It is all this mystery and unexplored regions that attracts me.
Those are the places I would like to visit first if I could ever travel.

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My Faults According To My Family

To my family I am one big fault, although there are times when they are glad I'm around, that is, when I do something for them. Maybe, though, it isn't s bad as it seems to me.
For one thing, I make too much noise. No matter what I do, it sees as if I can always find some way to make it noisy. If I do the dishes, I make an awful racket; when I do housework, I make a terrible din; even when I sing, I make an ear-rending sound, not heart-rending, although in some ways it could be very heart-rending. the harder I try the more noise I make.
For another thing, I always seem to be getting in to way or doing things wrong. in the kitchen I'm more of a hindrance than a help. When I walk I always seem to bump into something or someone or find something to trip over.
I sincerely hope that my family will, in some way, come to appreciate me for what I am. they always laugh when I say that. I wonder why?


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