When Maria was 8 years old, her mother told her she was going to have another baby. Maria was very excited! To prepare for the new family member, the family moved to a larger home close to the town. Maria was given a yellow room and the baby would sleep in her room when it arrived. This made Maria even more excited!
In October, Maria's baby sister, Teresa was born. She was the sweetest baby and everyone said so. Maria quite agreed and loved to feed her and hold her and even change her diaper. She loved hearing the baby softly breathing as she slept each night.
As the baby grew, Teresa began to take on her own personality. She was loving and sweet and loved to laugh. She was a little sassy too - always ready to boss the big kids around if she felt the need. Maria and all of her brothers and sisters adored Teresa.
When Maria was in junior high and high school, she still shared a room with Teresa and Teresa was her best friend. Maria shared all of her secrets with Teresa.
As she grew up, Teresa became a fun-loving, caring and confident woman. She got married and had beautiful children and always loved her family. She and Maria always stayed close and shared the special bonds of sisterhood and friendship.
Today is Teresa's birthday. Happy Birthday - from Maria and me!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Dive in or take it slow?
When Maria was around eleven years old, she lived with her family in a big house in a nice lakeside neighborhood. In the summer, Maria's family spent a good amount of time at the lake. They had a pontoon boat for leisure rides around the lake at evening time. The also had a small speed boat for skiing and fishing. These were kept at the gated neighborhood dock.
Now, this lake was in Michigan and as you may be aware, the water never gets truly warm in lakes such as this one. But still, the family would often go swimming off the docks. Maria's father liked to take the kids down after dinner on summer nights to cool off after a long day. All of the kids loved this. They would quickly don their bathing suits and gladly ride their bikes down to the dock.
Once they arrived at the lake, someone would yell, "Last one in is a rotten egg!" Off they would run down the dock to the end. All of the kids would stop short at the edge and look in wondering how cold it was.
Then Maria's father would dive in. He would swim to the surface and say, "Come on in! It's not cold at all."
Then one by one, the kids would jump in and, one by one, they would come to the surface and shiver.
Maria, on the other hand, always took a different approach. She would walk to the ladder leading into the lake off the side of the dock. Then she would dip her toes in. Then she would place her feet on the first rung of the ladder. Then she would slowly, slowly, slowly lower her body into the water a little at a time, pausing to let each section adjust to the water temperature.
Usually during this process, her father would have been out of the water a couple times for a running jump or dive back into the lake. He would always say to Maria, "If you just jump in, your body will adjust more quickly and you can have more time having fun."
Maria still eased herself into the lake every time. However, I can say that she does now appreciate the advise.
Now, this lake was in Michigan and as you may be aware, the water never gets truly warm in lakes such as this one. But still, the family would often go swimming off the docks. Maria's father liked to take the kids down after dinner on summer nights to cool off after a long day. All of the kids loved this. They would quickly don their bathing suits and gladly ride their bikes down to the dock.
Once they arrived at the lake, someone would yell, "Last one in is a rotten egg!" Off they would run down the dock to the end. All of the kids would stop short at the edge and look in wondering how cold it was.
Then Maria's father would dive in. He would swim to the surface and say, "Come on in! It's not cold at all."
Then one by one, the kids would jump in and, one by one, they would come to the surface and shiver.
Maria, on the other hand, always took a different approach. She would walk to the ladder leading into the lake off the side of the dock. Then she would dip her toes in. Then she would place her feet on the first rung of the ladder. Then she would slowly, slowly, slowly lower her body into the water a little at a time, pausing to let each section adjust to the water temperature.
Usually during this process, her father would have been out of the water a couple times for a running jump or dive back into the lake. He would always say to Maria, "If you just jump in, your body will adjust more quickly and you can have more time having fun."
Maria still eased herself into the lake every time. However, I can say that she does now appreciate the advise.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Tomatoes
When Maria was about 10 years old, she and her family had two dogs named Chipper and Frisky. These were outdoor dogs and not allowed inside the house. The dogs each had their own area outside and each had their own dog house.
Maria and her brothers and sisters would feed and water the dogs everyday. They fed the dogs table scraps along with their dog food. One summer, the family ate a lot of tomatoes and a few tomato scraps made it into Frisky's food dish.
Now do not worry, Frisky never became ill and it was not common knowledge at the time that tomatoes were bad for dogs. Anyway, back to the story -
Summer came and went, as did fall and winter. As the snow thawed and melted away, Frisky's area and dog house looked just as it always had. As May came around, some plants began to grow around the edge of Frisky's dog run. By June, there were big juicy tomatoes ripening on the vines of the plants.
Now I know you're questioning if the family ate the tomatoes. I would be lying if I said they did not. I am pretty sure though that Maria's mother refrained from telling the family whether she was using "home grown" (Frisky grown) or "store bought" tomatoes in the salad each day.
Maria and her brothers and sisters would feed and water the dogs everyday. They fed the dogs table scraps along with their dog food. One summer, the family ate a lot of tomatoes and a few tomato scraps made it into Frisky's food dish.
Now do not worry, Frisky never became ill and it was not common knowledge at the time that tomatoes were bad for dogs. Anyway, back to the story -
Summer came and went, as did fall and winter. As the snow thawed and melted away, Frisky's area and dog house looked just as it always had. As May came around, some plants began to grow around the edge of Frisky's dog run. By June, there were big juicy tomatoes ripening on the vines of the plants.
Now I know you're questioning if the family ate the tomatoes. I would be lying if I said they did not. I am pretty sure though that Maria's mother refrained from telling the family whether she was using "home grown" (Frisky grown) or "store bought" tomatoes in the salad each day.
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