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Robyn (aka Robbie Dob) wasn't slogging down a martini when she broke her leg at pre-school.Top left - Robyn, Amy and I do Rob's patented "no lips, no handicap" look.
Life is ever-changing - which makes it interesting, you know? All through our lives, people are passing through. It begins when we're quite young. Early babysitters, daycare providers, and teachers are a few examples.
When I was a tot, I attended Mrs. Lewin's Nursery School on the edge of Atlantic. I'm not sure how old I was - 3 or 4 I suppose. Mrs. Lewin would pick us up in her station wagon. We sat in the back with the seat down, no seat belts needed back then - our heads must have been harder then these pansy kids today! I remember we'd sing "Way Down Yonder in the Paw Paw Patch" and she'd call out my name when we got to my house, singing "where oh where is my friend Leslie?"
Mrs. Lewin's house was like a dream come true for any little kid. In my memory, it was like Disneyland all in a basement and backyard! She had a table that was recessed on top and filled with water or perhaps sand. There was a big wooden block collection - one time Tommy Sandhorst (or someone similar whose name I don't remember) nailed Kyla Huett in the head with a block and made her bleed.
Mrs. Lewin always served a nutritious snack consisting of koolaid and graham crackers with - I kid you not - sugar cubes! They were yum yummy dipped in the koolaid.
Out back, along with the arm and leg breaking playground equipment, there was a little train we could sit on. I remember it going around on a track. But that vision could also be my imagination, or wishful thinking.
When I was a tot, I attended Mrs. Lewin's Nursery School on the edge of Atlantic. I'm not sure how old I was - 3 or 4 I suppose. Mrs. Lewin would pick us up in her station wagon. We sat in the back with the seat down, no seat belts needed back then - our heads must have been harder then these pansy kids today! I remember we'd sing "Way Down Yonder in the Paw Paw Patch" and she'd call out my name when we got to my house, singing "where oh where is my friend Leslie?"
Mrs. Lewin's house was like a dream come true for any little kid. In my memory, it was like Disneyland all in a basement and backyard! She had a table that was recessed on top and filled with water or perhaps sand. There was a big wooden block collection - one time Tommy Sandhorst (or someone similar whose name I don't remember) nailed Kyla Huett in the head with a block and made her bleed.
Mrs. Lewin always served a nutritious snack consisting of koolaid and graham crackers with - I kid you not - sugar cubes! They were yum yummy dipped in the koolaid.
Out back, along with the arm and leg breaking playground equipment, there was a little train we could sit on. I remember it going around on a track. But that vision could also be my imagination, or wishful thinking.
I've mentioned before how I broke my arm there, jumping off the top of the huge (to a 4 year-old) slide during a wild game of boys chase girls. I was also on board when Robbie Dob broke her leg (if she was Odie it would be widdo weg) - getting it wedged under the pedal of the glider. Can you imagine the uproar and lawsuits if any of that happened today?
I attended school with some kids (like Robyn) from preschool all the way through to high school graduation. (our paths split then as she went to the University of Iowa and I, to the highly superior Iowa State University) During our school years, some kids moved away and I lost track of them. Others moved in - which seemed very exotic to those of us who had only lived in Atlantic. Friends, just passing through.
Remember, when we were kids, how easy it sometimes was to just start playing with a kid who seemed fun? At the Country Club pool we ended up playing games like Shark, Nibbles and Freeze Tag with other pool rats like us. BFFFH (Best Friends For a Few Hours) Or somebody would bring there cousin along and we would be fast friends for that week and then never see them again! (or if they came back at an awkward age, we'd struggle to make conversation)
College was the same way. We hang out a bit with someone on our dorm floor just because they were there. But when we moved to an apartment (the Big 4, of which I was a part) lived on Campus Avenue. We flirted harmlessly with the guys who lived above us the first year. Now I don't even remember their names - except for the one we called 3B, which stood for Bad Breath Brad. Guess nobody we hung with married that guy!
I've had a lot of jobs through the past 35 years or so, and made a lot of temp friends. I try to stay in touch, but with some people it's really just the job you have in common so eventually you let most of them go. I still get together with some ladies I worked with at Gits Manufacturing from 1995-1997, even though only one of us even works there now!
My book club (reading discussion group) is a cool bunch of ladies I met through my love for books. Well, I guess I did already know Deb before (afore mentioned workout stud and excellent BFF), but the rest of this group I met through the club. Mary has been a nice recent addition - and now she's moving on.
Good thing she joined Facebook so I can keep track of her!
I attended school with some kids (like Robyn) from preschool all the way through to high school graduation. (our paths split then as she went to the University of Iowa and I, to the highly superior Iowa State University) During our school years, some kids moved away and I lost track of them. Others moved in - which seemed very exotic to those of us who had only lived in Atlantic. Friends, just passing through.
Remember, when we were kids, how easy it sometimes was to just start playing with a kid who seemed fun? At the Country Club pool we ended up playing games like Shark, Nibbles and Freeze Tag with other pool rats like us. BFFFH (Best Friends For a Few Hours) Or somebody would bring there cousin along and we would be fast friends for that week and then never see them again! (or if they came back at an awkward age, we'd struggle to make conversation)
College was the same way. We hang out a bit with someone on our dorm floor just because they were there. But when we moved to an apartment (the Big 4, of which I was a part) lived on Campus Avenue. We flirted harmlessly with the guys who lived above us the first year. Now I don't even remember their names - except for the one we called 3B, which stood for Bad Breath Brad. Guess nobody we hung with married that guy!
I've had a lot of jobs through the past 35 years or so, and made a lot of temp friends. I try to stay in touch, but with some people it's really just the job you have in common so eventually you let most of them go. I still get together with some ladies I worked with at Gits Manufacturing from 1995-1997, even though only one of us even works there now!
My book club (reading discussion group) is a cool bunch of ladies I met through my love for books. Well, I guess I did already know Deb before (afore mentioned workout stud and excellent BFF), but the rest of this group I met through the club. Mary has been a nice recent addition - and now she's moving on.
Good thing she joined Facebook so I can keep track of her!
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