Those 70ish Girls

MG’s answer to the question:

The question is supposed to be…Looking back as a child, how is my life different than I thought it would be? How is it the same? I didn’t have room for all of that in the title.

Thinking back, I don’t know if I was different or the same as most kids. I remember imagining myself married to a man who always wore a suit. My husband also wore a hat. He didn’t look like my dad, although Dad often wore a hat. It was one of those brown felt Fedora type hats. The man didn’t look like Dad although I don’t know for sure because I never saw his face. I remember he was taller and leaner than  my dad.

I thought I would be a flight attendant or stewardess as they called them back then. It’s funny I thought that’s what I would grow up to be because the first time I flew, I was eleven and I was sure the airplane would crash and I was going to die. I flew alone because Mom decided to stay in California longer and I had to go back to school. I remember that I paid no attention to the stewardess as she explained how to use the oxygen and the floatation cushion. The thing I feared more than the airplane crashing was to be floating around in the ocean on a seat cushion that doubled as floatie, oxygen or no oxygen.

I don’t think I imagined that I would have children because, (this will sound gross), I was afraid they would get sick and throw up. I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle that. When I was in the 2nd grade, one of the kids threw up on her desk and I took one look at that and threw up, too. The teacher called Mom and I had to go home, even though after the other girl left with her mother, I felt okay.

Now, as to how my life is the same as I thought it would be…

I have sat here for five minutes and tried to think of something and I can’t recall one thing that I thought back then actually played out the way I imagined it would. I thought if I couldn’t be a stewardess, I would be a gymnast or a singer or dancer. God knows that didn’t happen. Goals have to be achievable. I sure didn’t think I would ever leave Murdo, and I certainly didn’t think I would live in that faraway land known as Texas. I didn’t plan to be a mortgage loan underwriter, and there was no such thing as a blog or even a computer. I could type words pretty fast, but I never could type numbers without looking. I still can’t. It’s a good thing I fell into something else I could do to make a living because I would have starved to death if I had been a secretary.

It’s kind of a scary thought that my life hasn’t turned out one bit like I thought it would. I’m sure my cousin’s answer will be much more to the point. I bet she can type numbers, too.

I just remembered. There is one thing that is the same as I imagined it would be. I always knew I would have a dog. I’ve had seventeen.

Lav’s response to MG’s story:

This is very good and funny and prophetic! The faraway land called Texas!?! No kids because they vomit!? You’re Too much!!!

You thought you’d be a flight attendant which you very well could’ve! But a gymnast or dancer or singer? Well, maybe in your next life.

So glad you did fulfill that dog owner dream. We need more people like you. 

Lav’s answer to the question…

My current life is much different from what I imagined it would be like as a child. I thought I’d live on a ranch just like Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. I used to watch their TV show and thought they were the best people ever. They were living the fun free life, yessiree! We would ride around in a jeep – “Whoa Nellybelle!” -and ride horses so we could chase after the bad guys and catch some varmints once in a while. Pat Brady would help us. And naturally Trigger the horse  and our dog, Bullet, were always saving us. We would herd cattle – not DAIRY CATTLE – and take care of the chickens, pigs, and horses to our hearts content.  We would be rich in many ways not just with money but fun times and happiness abounding, out in the fresh air.  Out in the country.  Ahh, what a good life. 

Instead, I went to college in California after the popular surfer time was just peaking in high school then the Beatles and it kept rockin on. I got pretty good grades. Then I graduated from college, did student teaching, and got married and taught high school then taught elementary school in a remote area on the coast near Big Sur.  There’s no time to give my life story here. That would take up another few paragraphs and that’s another story. 

This might seem like a “cop out”, however, I do not think my current life is anything the same as what I as a kid had imagined. Why can’t life just be like a Saturday morning western TV show?  It just didn’t turn out like I had imagined.  

(Please don’t tell Roy Rogers this. It’s our little secret.)

MG’s response to Lav’s story:

Through wind and rain and weather, we 70ish girls stay together. Just keep those milk cows moovin. RAWHIDE!!!