I did not go to the pool yesterday….with a certain sense of guilt. I did go to a staff meeting at the Discover Shop only to discover breakfast. I eat toast, yogurt, and coffee here at home. There in front of me lay all the fattening goodies I might ever want to start my day. I ate and certainly was guilty As I wallowed in the delicious.
But I got books shelved. Jay, who is wheelchair bound, prices this overwhelming mound of donated books, (thank you), and I arrange them beautifully. Not a bit of guilt there.
40 Questions to ask your Mum: Home:
14. Who had to travel a long way to school or work?
I must honestly say, I can’t answer this in the expected manner. My father’s father was a college professor who often changed colleges. Twice he was an interim college president. I can honestly say that I don’t know where my father went to grade school and high school although I think it was Seattle. I do know that by the time he made it to college, he was in real difficulties with his learning disabilities. Grandpa G formed a fraternity whose focus was on learning, and after graduation my father and grandfather wrote a book about how to learn. The two together went a long, long way in search of learning.
Mother and her brother grew up in a stabile household, and they both went to the University of Michigan at Port Huron to get their degrees. Gimpa was a pioneering Electrical Engineer, Uncle Charlie was a Naval Engineer, and mother struggled mightily with her calculus to be number two in her class. She was the first woman engineering graduate from the University of Michigan. She too went a long, long way for her education.
I’m afraid I went on an even longer road first beginning to fail in school in the third grade. I continued the pattern through many public and private schools until appendicitis at age 16. I pleaded to go back to the private Boyden’s school even though there was no art there. After just barely squeaking through, I ran away from home to join the Army….to avoid more education. After marriage, two kids, and a marked lack of success manual labor as well as art, both my husband and I were fired from our jobs running my parents printing company. My husband of the time, PAH, announced we were both going to school on the GI bill. That would bring in money, he informed me. He did well. I spent 4 years in a 2 year institution acquiring 94 units in art and failing Philosophy. Here I started my very long road into the future.
No one's perfect, you missed a day, there's tomorrow. I'm trying to exercise three days this week after not at all last week. That's quite an educated family you have there, those achievers can be a burden though, takes the rest of us some time to learn to walk in our own shoes.
ReplyDeleteI'm feeling all kinds of guilt that I haven't been doing much of any exercise and I really need to. I have no idea why I'm not gaining weight. I will though at this rate. Not good.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Celia. You do certainly have a learned family to be proud of.
Neat tender pictures and a very, very interesting history.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post. It is particularly interesting to know that your grandmother (or was it your mom) studied engineering.
ReplyDeleteMy father's side of the family were relatively educated, my mother's not. Yet, both sides were curious and well-read... two important attributes that you posses.
Good to eat the forbidden foods once in a while. Guilt is useless.
ReplyDeleteYour history is so insightful. Looking back with such clear vision.
ReplyDeleteDo you, or did you, ever have the sense your father's learning difficulties may have had to do with being steered in a direction in which he didn't fit? Just as you seem to be a born artist, perhaps he too would have had less problems in other areas?
ReplyDelete