To say my sisters and I adored my father would be a huge understatement. In our all-female household, he was the sun we all orbited around. The reason I started writing stories in the first place was to please him. Before I trotted off to school in second grade, I placed the latest pages of my first novel – printed in pencil on lined paper –on his pillow. It was titled “LOST” (yeah, the TV series stole it from me.) It told the thrilling tale of twelve children of a “steamstress” (ibid), all kidnapped by two evil guys. Instead of escaping however, these children opted to convert their kidnappers to Christianity. Yes, I was definitely the daughter of a Lutheran minister.
We used to act out Bible stories for entertainment. The Good Samaritan was a favorite. Daddy played the victim on the side of the road. I must have been a Pharisee since Janet was definitely the Good Samaritan. Daddy was hugely amused when – after retrieving a glass of water from the kitchen to save his life – she invariably stopped and drank half of it herself before offering it to him.
The more worldly side of my life at school was all about me and Sandy. We combined our names and gave our friendship a name – Kandy. We loved to create things, in this case our own dictionary, although I’m pretty sure we never used a single word from it in real life. In addition to our dictionary, we made drafted plans for an elaborate campaign to make ourselves popular – needless to say, a total failure – but I’ll get to that in another diary entry.
Sandra (Sandy) October 28, 2016 at 7:32 am
I remember that little dog so well because when I was having dinner at your home, he/she (sorry I can’t remember the name) would be under the table and kept burping. Apparently, the rest of the family was used to it but I was stuffing down my wild laughter and tried to enjoy the dinner experience (which was always a wonderful time) and appreciating the devotion or story your dad would tell. Also, the hat your mom is wearing in the one photo is so indicative of the styles for that time…her facial expression makes me wonder what she is thinking. Thanks for sharing, Kandy.
skywhys October 30, 2016 at 3:08 am
The dog’s name was “Lady” (so original). And I agree with you about my mom’s hat – so early sixties! I either didn’t notice or completely forgot Lady’s burping habit…
Kathy Wood October 28, 2016 at 12:16 pm
I love this story of the dictionary!