My daughter, Maxine, just turned seven. She is not your average seven year old. Alright, in some ways she is a normal seven year old girl. She likes Hannah Montana, The Jonas Brothers and High School Musical. She also loves the John Travolta and Rikki Lake versions of Hairspray. If you ask her why, she will tell you that she liked how “black people and white people marched together so they could be equal.”
The name Maxine is old fashioned. It was a popular name in the twenties, but has since fallen in popularity. When my husband and I first tossed the name around, it felt sort of clunky and even a bit ugly. But, as other names came onto the list and left the list, Maxine remained. It emerged as a strong and even cute name. And, it was a name that held meaning because it was my maternal grandmother’s name.
We began to tell a few people that we had settled on the name Maxine. My mother was thrilled. My mother-in-law was not convinced, but kept her sentiments quiet. Then, at approximately 7:30 PM on November 12, 2001, Maxine Eleanor Tewsley made her way into this world. She was one week overdue. Her cheeks were marked with red blisters. She barely had a nose. She was beautiful. My husband announced her arrival to our parents, all of whom were in the hospital waiting room. My mother sentimentally expressed how pleased her mother would have been. And, at that moment, my mother-in-law fell in love with the name Maxine.
Maxine knows the significance of her name, because we have told her stories about her great grandmother from the day she came home from the hospital. It would make for a great story if I could tell you how much Maxine is like my grandmother. I cannot tell you that. Maxine is uniquely Maxine. But, Maxine loves stories. She will tell you she loves stories that “really happened.” I may have hoped that naming Maxine after my grandmother would have resulted in a genetic miracle. A miracle that would have parts of my grandmother come alive in my daughter. Instead, something unexpected happened. The story of “how she got her name” created a desire in Maxine to hear other stories that “really happened.”
At first Maxine asked for stories about things that happened to her father or me, when we were little. Then, there was a night, when she was four, that she listened, captivated, to a story about Abraham Lincoln. She became somewhat obsessed with Abraham Lincoln. In first grade, the first book she checked out of the library was pictorial of Abraham Lincoln that contained almost 200 pages. Just the other day, I spoke with the librarian at her school. She commented on how Maxine always checks books out on Abraham Lincoln. At six she could tell you about the Emancipation Proclamation, the names of Lincoln’s wife and assassin, and the years in which he was born and died. And, although she is most fond of Lincoln, she can also tell you quite a lot about Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman, Anne Frank, and Helen Keller.
I might have thought that her interest in history was just a passing curiosity, but then there was a trip to the Henry Ford Museum and her Hundred Days Project.
Just after Christmas last year we journeyed to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. There were amazing things to see: huge Christmas trees with beautiful lights and decorations, elaborate doll houses, and big shiny trains. But, there were two things that thrilled Maxine. Lincoln’s chair from Fords Theater, and the bus on which Rosa Parks took a stance.
Shortly after our trip to the museum, Maxine began work on her Hundred Days project. At her school, it is a tradition for all of the kids to create something that represents their 100th day in school. It could be as simple as making the number 100 out of Cheerio’s. Maxine decided to draw 100 pictures representing 100 dates in American History. She asked her father and me to tell her about a date in history. Then, she would draw a picture of that event. She worked on her project for one month. We put all of the pictures into a three ring binder and she proudly carried it to school.
This year Maxine wants to draw 100 pictures of dates in world history. I told she is not your typical seven-year old.
But then again, she wants “Baby Alive Learns to Potty” for Christmas.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Who Are You?
Do you know who you are? Bullshit answers don’t count. I mean, do you REALLY know who you are?
I know who I am.
I am a pilgrim
I sailed on the Winthrop fleet
I fought the Narragansett
I stormed the beach at Normandy
I am a widowed mother of four
I deserted my children
I fought in the Civil War
I tried the man that shot President McKinley
I am a murderer
I am a teacher
I founded a park system
I am a U.S. Marine
I am all of these things and more
I know this because I have been researching my ancestors. If you haven’t started digging up yours, I suggest that you give it a go. It is easier to do than you might think. The internet has made it easier. Chances are you are already spending way too much time online. Why not spend a little bit of that time learning something about yourself.
Check out ancestry.com. Ancestry.com is a lot of things. It is a time machine. It is a detective service. It is fun. It is easy. There is one thing that it is not. It is not free. Get your parents or other relatives to help you foot the bill. That’s what I did. I guarantee you will be glad you did. And if you’re not, well…you should be.
And… you might just find out who YOU are.
I know who I am.
I am a pilgrim
I sailed on the Winthrop fleet
I fought the Narragansett
I stormed the beach at Normandy
I am a widowed mother of four
I deserted my children
I fought in the Civil War
I tried the man that shot President McKinley
I am a murderer
I am a teacher
I founded a park system
I am a U.S. Marine
I am all of these things and more
I know this because I have been researching my ancestors. If you haven’t started digging up yours, I suggest that you give it a go. It is easier to do than you might think. The internet has made it easier. Chances are you are already spending way too much time online. Why not spend a little bit of that time learning something about yourself.
Check out ancestry.com. Ancestry.com is a lot of things. It is a time machine. It is a detective service. It is fun. It is easy. There is one thing that it is not. It is not free. Get your parents or other relatives to help you foot the bill. That’s what I did. I guarantee you will be glad you did. And if you’re not, well…you should be.
And… you might just find out who YOU are.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Starting Over
I started a new job this week. I haven't started a new job in almost 14 years. Until June, I was employed by a company at which I had hoped I could spend the duration of my career. Okay...I know that is not realistic these days, but it was something to be proud of in our parent's generation. I guess a little of that generation rubbed off on me because I was proud of my longevity.
So...like I was saying, I had worked at the same place for nearly 14 years when my job was eliminated in June. I was still in my twenties when I began my career with "the company." I met my husband at "the company." He sat in a cubicle close to mine. I could overhear occasional phone conversations that he had with his parents and grandmother. I fell in love with him, in part due to those phone calls, and before he ever asked me on a date.
Truth is he never really asked me on a date...we just sort of happened. And then we just sort of moved in together. Eventually we were married. People from "the company" came to our wedding. Then we got pregnant...and just after we entered our second trimester...just when we began to tell people that we were expecting our first baby, we had a miscarriage. I was at a business dinner for "the company" when the bleeding started. Later we got pregnant again. We had a beautiful daughter. Then, we got pregnant one more time. That time we had a son. Along the way, between the wedding and the day on which my position was eliminated, other things happened. Two of our friends died. One in his sleep. Another shot himself. My father-in-law began a prolonged battle with cancer, that he eventually lost. I worked for great bosses, okay bosses and downright lousy bosses. But, I loved my job. And, I loved "the company."
And then one day, after almost 14 years of service one of the boss-types referenced above invited me into her office to tell me that the company was fiscally challenged and that my services were no longer needed. I had one hour to clean out my office. But, how do you clean out an office full of 14 years worth of accumulation? I could box up the photos on my desk. I could pack the files that were mine to keep. But I could not put the life I made at "the company" into a box. It was entangled in the walls and halls. I could not extract those things in the sixty minutes I had been given to pack my things and leave. So I packed what I could into boxes. My husband put them onto a rolling cart, pushed them down the hall and out the front door. Then he loaded them into the minivan. It has been almost six months now and those boxes are still unpacked on a shelf in the basement of our house.
So, I started a new job this week. Everyone is really nice. I am enjoying myself. I am glad to be starting over again, but I wonder how long it will take me to untangle myself from that place and time and take root at someplace new.
So...like I was saying, I had worked at the same place for nearly 14 years when my job was eliminated in June. I was still in my twenties when I began my career with "the company." I met my husband at "the company." He sat in a cubicle close to mine. I could overhear occasional phone conversations that he had with his parents and grandmother. I fell in love with him, in part due to those phone calls, and before he ever asked me on a date.
Truth is he never really asked me on a date...we just sort of happened. And then we just sort of moved in together. Eventually we were married. People from "the company" came to our wedding. Then we got pregnant...and just after we entered our second trimester...just when we began to tell people that we were expecting our first baby, we had a miscarriage. I was at a business dinner for "the company" when the bleeding started. Later we got pregnant again. We had a beautiful daughter. Then, we got pregnant one more time. That time we had a son. Along the way, between the wedding and the day on which my position was eliminated, other things happened. Two of our friends died. One in his sleep. Another shot himself. My father-in-law began a prolonged battle with cancer, that he eventually lost. I worked for great bosses, okay bosses and downright lousy bosses. But, I loved my job. And, I loved "the company."
And then one day, after almost 14 years of service one of the boss-types referenced above invited me into her office to tell me that the company was fiscally challenged and that my services were no longer needed. I had one hour to clean out my office. But, how do you clean out an office full of 14 years worth of accumulation? I could box up the photos on my desk. I could pack the files that were mine to keep. But I could not put the life I made at "the company" into a box. It was entangled in the walls and halls. I could not extract those things in the sixty minutes I had been given to pack my things and leave. So I packed what I could into boxes. My husband put them onto a rolling cart, pushed them down the hall and out the front door. Then he loaded them into the minivan. It has been almost six months now and those boxes are still unpacked on a shelf in the basement of our house.
So, I started a new job this week. Everyone is really nice. I am enjoying myself. I am glad to be starting over again, but I wonder how long it will take me to untangle myself from that place and time and take root at someplace new.
Friday, November 14, 2008
I Don't Know What I am Doing
Really. I don't. And, I don't know why I am doing this either. Writing a blog. I guess it just seems like the thing to do. I am not a writer. Altough I wish I was. I don't have much to say. That is, I don't have much to say that I want posted on the web for everyone to see. But...oh well! I am going to try the whole blog thing anyway.
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