Lynn’s Small Recollections & Reflections #1
I’ve decided to write a journal of sorts. Mainly a work of fiction as it pertains to anyone but me as it’s my interpretation and recollection of my life.
My blog has become a sort of journal for my kids that they will have long after I’m gone. However, I wanted them to also have something more about me.
I wish so much that I knew more about my Mom and Dad. What were their lives like, did they ever dream of something different? What was their childhood like? I know little to nothing about my Dad’s parents.
Even though we don’t know the answers to many questions about our parents and their parents, we can only guess and imagine, as we carry all of it into our lives because they raised us.
I would love for my kids to have something to look back on and say, oh that’s why I love SweetTarts, and that’s why I’m afraid of heights!
My hope is to share a new short story every Monday but if life throws me a curve ball, I may skip a week or two.
And with that…. I’ll begin!
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Life in Michigan
I was born on August 24, 1957, at 12:30 in the afternoon. It was a Saturday and my Dad was playing golf while my Mom was having me.
My Kingsford Memorial Hospital in Kingsford, Michigan which is a small town right next to Iron Mountain in the Upper Peninsula.
I was the second child of Arthur and June Simonson. When I was born my sister Laurie was almost 6 years old.
20 months after I was born, my brother Scott made an appearance and I became the middle child. I remained the middle child for many years.
I have very few memories of living in Michigan as I wasn’t quite 5 when we moved to Illinois.
One memory that I clearly recall was walking away from home to follow my sister to her friend Barb’s house. I didn’t make it to the corner when my mom, extremely pregnant with my brother found me. Boy, she was mad and she gave me a spanking.
I also have recollections of playing with neighbors and cousins on our swing set in our backyard and I also remember a neighbor getting hurt when something in our garage fell on them. Nothing life-threatening but I did go with my Mom to their house with a gift for that child who was laying on the sofa.
I had a blankie that I held under my nose and sucked my pointer and middle finger. Surely the reason I was the only one in the family that need braces. Which I didn’t get until I was an adult.
But back to the blankie. I liked the smell of it and when my mom would wash it, she would ruin it. I had to sneak up onto the kitchen table and get a little butter on the corner so it would get dirty faster and smell lovely again!
I’ve been told that when the blankie would be on the clothesline outside I would stand underneath it and hold it to my nose and suck on my fingers.
Moving to Illinois
We moved to Illinois in the summer of 1962 and I turned 5 in August right after we moved. I remember my Mom having a birthday party for me with all the little girls on the street, and there were a lot.
At this party, I really didn’t know them but over the next 9 years, we would get to be good friends before my parents had the audacity to move right before my freshman year of high school.
Thanks to social media, I’m still connected with many of those old neighborhood friends.
It was in many ways an idyllic place to grow up. Almost all the Moms were housewives and home with us. Except for a few kids who went to Catholic School, we all came home for lunch every day. In the summer the only rule was to be home by the time it got dark.
I wasn’t much of an adventurer, my good friends were at the most one block away so I pretty much stayed close to home.
My good friends included Lori and Cindy Hart, Brenda Balasa, Ann Marie Jindra, Cindy Rush, Pam Hansen, and Mindy whose last name I can’t remember but her Dad was a cameraman for Bozo Circus and I got to go on many occasions.
Next time, I’m going to talk about my recollection of the adults in my 60s-era life.
Peace and Love,
Tell Them Your Story
Click through the carousel and then click on the picture to take you to the link.
#2 – My Parents and their Friends in the 60s
#3 – A Lonely Kid
#4 – The Day I Ran Away TO Home
#5 – The Tornado
#6 – Moving Away from My Friends
How lucky you are to have such lovely memories. Unfortunately for me, my story is dark and filled with alcohol and abuse. I overcame my childhood to become a very lucky adult. Enjoyed reading your posts
I’m sorry that happened to you. I think that in many ways the challenges that we face help to mold us into stronger more resilient people. While I start my story on an upbeat note, there were times when my life also was very dark. I hope you’ll follow along. You are not alone!
Love this new series. Thanks for sharing it!
I’m so glad you like it Debbie – I can’t wait to share more!
Lynn, this is such a fun post! Being a 60’s gal, I swear I had a bday party picture very similar! ???? I look forward to learning more about you in your new series!
Hi Kim –
The fact there all in black and white also makes them look so much alike but we all had the same little dresses and goofy hair!
LYNN!!! Loved your story and childhood pictures????
Hey Carmen! Be prepared, I’m sure your name will come up as the stories evolve!!
Thank you Lynn,
I really enjoyed reading about your life and seeing the great pictures.
Emma and I looked through pictures for hours. So much fun.
I’m so glad that you’re doing this, not only for us, but for your family. What a treasure this will be for them to know about your life as you were growing up. The photos are so precious and beautiful. What a wonderful thing to be doing! Thank you for sharing this with us. Jenise
Thank you Jenise – I’ve had such positive feed-back about this. It makes me very happy that I decided to do this.
It was fun to read your your life story. Sure remembered that blanker!
Barb
I wish I could find a picture of it. All of our pictures are mostly of Christmas & Easter when we were really little. I’m sure photographs were a bit of a luxury. I found one of a party in your parent’s family room yesterday. I’ll have to show you next time we see each other.
Love your story. I grew up in about the same era as you. I am the oldest of 4 girls. We moved a lot as kids since my father’s job required it. 7 States before we permanently moved to Colorado when I was 15. I am now planted firmly and have no desire to ever move again; we have been in our home for 35 years! Raised 3 boys here and have great memories. We too live in a smallish house – we call it “cozy” – and I believe the size of our house contributed to how close we all are
Hi AJ –
Thank you for following along! I’m excited to share this with not only my kids but my readers. While I sometimes wished I lived in a bigger house, I agree that the small house is what has kept us so close. We call ours “cozy” too!
I love this! You and I share a Birth year, and I can already see some similarities of our life. Journaling is so very important! My Mother-in-Law passed away last year at one month shy of 105, she left me her journals, and while they are far from complete, they are a treasure! Your family is going to love having your memories written down!
Hi Marianne – What a treasure! I wish I had something like that. I really don’t have anything the my parents or grandparents put on paper so only recollections!
Love this! I have a journal on my blog, but didn’t dive this deep. It’s a great idea! Can’t wait to hear more about your life growing up! XO
Thank you Deanna –
Love this new series, Lynn! I’ll be following along! What a lovely gift to your children! ????
Thank you Leslie – I’m pretty excited about writing it. As I’m putting words to paper, there is definitely a bit of reflection, understanding, and a bit of healing for me.
I look forward to learning more about you Lynn! This is a wonderful legacy to leave your children and grandchildren!
Thank you, Amy – I’m sure that you can relate to having kiddos a little later in life I want them to have this info to share with their kids if I’m not around to tell the story.
Such a fun post. Hugs to you, my friend.
Thank you Renae – I’m hoping I inspire others to share their own unique and beautiful stories. None of us had the perfect life and especially in our business, I want to show people the good, the bad and the ugly!
Love this idea Lynn! So glad to get a sneak peek into your early days!
Thank you Diane – I hope it’s fun for everyone.
I love this! Your kids will treasure it! I’ve done a few projects like this, but I was on the other end – as the child trying to get information about grandparents. I like that you are doing this for them!
Thank you, Susan – We have this great technology and I want to take advantage of it. I’m also hoping I inspire others to share their stories.
Will you be telling stories of Luther League and Prince of Peace Church?
Absolutely!
I hit reply too fast. Pastor Pappe and his family lived around the corner from us so I have stories! I had a huge crush on Doug! 🙂
Lynn, I’m going to enjoy going on the journey of your life with you. The Christmas picture, your sister Laurie with her big doll and you with your little baby doll, reminds me so much of a picture so much like it of my little sister and me, me with a big bride doll and Vicki with her tiny baby doll, both of us beaming. Oh, how she loves showing that picture and huffing about me being the favorite child, “see, here’s the proof”. I’m a bit new to your blog and I enjoy it so much, always glad to see you’ve posted!
Hi Teri – Thank you so much for the kind words. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blog. It’s interesting how many people can relate to those pictures. After looking through our old pictures it appears that the camera wasn’t used much except for Christmas and Easter. So no surprise that we have similar pictures and similar toys.
Love this, Lynn. My kids have said my blog is my story, too…often why I tell stories with the recipes. Can’t wait to follow along!
We are so lucky to have this job! I love that our kids will always have a piece of us.
We Baby Boomers lived in neighborhoods filled to the brim with kids. Rare was the house that only had one or two kids. We wore hand me down church clothes that you did not dare get dirty because your younger family member was going to wear it when you outgrew it. In family pictures you could track the plaid Christmas dress through the years. (I had three sisters.) Good times, sad times…but we grew up independent and determined.
Looking forward to your next post!
Hi Deb –
So true! My house and my photos were duplicated in Any Town,USA at that time.
What a great series this will be Lynn! Thanks for sharing your story. We all have a story to tell and it helps to connect us with others!
We do all have a story to tell and I hope this will encourage everyone to share their stories.
I absolutely loved seeing your sweet family photos dear Lynn. You could see the care, and attention to detail that your mom put into her children in the way she styled your hair and dressed each of you. What a blessing it is to have those sweet photos, and memories of good friends that you are still in contact with! I think this is really important, when we were one of our trips back home to Canada, I had a book and wrote down both my parents oral history so that it wouldn’t be lost. Because they were from Greece, and my father particularly having been born in the mountains and both his parents having died so extremely young in their 20’s, there was very little oral history; and what small amount of written history was destroyed in a fire. Your children will thank you one day!
Hi Dee –
Thank you for your kind words. Aren’t the old pictures fun! My Mom was pretty particular about how we looked when we were headed off to church.
HI Lynn, When I opened this email the other day and saw the cutest pic of you I saved this post until I could read it!
What a fun new series and great pics! xo laura
Thank you Laura – I’m getting such a great response from this. I’m glad I decided to do it.
Love this so much Lynn! I really liked getting to know what has made you, you. What a great group of friends you had and so happy you are still in touch. We grew up in such a good era. So sad today’s kids don’t get to. I look forward to reading the next pieces of your life.
Thank you my friend for following along!
I love this idea of journaling your life, Lynn. What a treasure trove this will be for your kids! I’ve been thinking of getting one of those legacy books for my parents to record some information/memories of my parents…think I’ll order those today!
I do really hope that I inspire others to do the same.