Floorcloth Era; BB Russell Era cont'd

This is a floorcloth I designed and made during my Floorcloth Era. I made one for each of my sons & their families plus one for each of my ex-husband's sons & their families. They were so much fun, work, and beautiful! All of them were designed by me. I felt so proud of myself. The kids loved running and sliding on them.

I talked a bit about the time between my ages of 3 to 10-1/2. This was when I met by VERY BEST FRIEND, Pat. We have been friends now about 58 years with fairly decent contact. We had a swamp out back and used to ice skate all the time, even when the ice was soft. It was a rush to see if you could get onto the ice without breaking it and then to keep moving so you didn't sink. Haha. Often I went home soaking wet and freezing! Yikes. We also built tents on the side of Pat's building. They had so many holes in that side, I don't know why it didn't rain in. Our mother's would make snacks for us (usually cocoa, crackers w/pb on them) and we would hold our own school or vacation bible school. We made crafts, gave a talk about a Bible verse (I was a 'great speaker' then--of course!) (actually, I was pretty bossy...yikes), sang songs. Outside of that, we mostly played games--I hated "Red Rover, Red Rover" because I always ended up with burns on my arms from holding so tight. Dodge Ball was a happening, the big guys allowed us to play "Tag" with them because they could catch us of course and show off how tough they were. We played all kinds of "Tag"-- Statues, partner tag (can't remember what it was called), and that's about all I can remember. (Pat, if you remember any more, let me know.) We also played dolls and made clothes for them. While we lived in the Richmond St. Project, a playground was built with WOODEN AND METAL SWINGS. I can tell you that a lot of us kids "bit the dust" on those swings. The big boys amazed me because they would swing so high they would go right over the top bar. That was scary to me! My sister, Judy, got hit with a swing and walked around with black eyes for a year, it seems. We had many friends there: Carol Pierce, Carol Mitchell, Bonnie Byron, Sandy Kahler (she's my cousin, she moved when she was about 8 years old because her mom had died). That's another story I would love to tell--about her mom. What a great woman and mother she was!!

Anyway, that about does it for today. I must go help Harry with his computer. He is a friend here in the community where I live, 75-yr. old new friend.

Blessings on all who read this and others, of course. I am thankful for the opportunity to write my journal here on this blogspot. I am thankful to God and Jesus Christ. I am Blessed.

Early and Ebullient Emma

In Rockland MA when I was born...

My name was Linda Lee Monk when I began life. My mother (Gwendolyn Mabelle Stimpson Monk, father (Harold Richard Monk--on his birth certificate it still says "Baby Boy Monk")and I lived with my paternal grandparents ('Nana' Dorothy Tower Monk and 'Grandpa' Ernest Lysander Monk) for about the first 3 years of my life. My sister, Judith Ann, came along 11 months after I was born. We experienced things like, being tied up out in the clothesyard (because things like that were done way back then) and we revelled in taking off our clothes (whether for attention or just sheer joy, I am not sure). The neighbors would call my mother and say, "Gwen, they did it again..." I'm sure this was the start of my dancing and entertaining career although I couldn't tell you why Judy did it. smile. We also didn't have a very happy time of things because my family was quite involved in alcoholism and psychotic behavior. Everyone in my family, except us children, was highly involved in lots of anger. My father had been in WWII for 6 years and had his arm shot off on the battlefield. He got the Purple Heart and Bronze Star plus other medals. He was a hero and I didn't know it then. My mother was a heroine because of what she had gone through in her life and I didn't know that then, either. It would take many years before I could have a clear shot at loving my mother and father. I have never blamed them for my life, thank God, and have always understood. I always knew that God was watching over me. When things got to be too much for my mother and father, they moved into a project in Brockton MA, named Richmond Street Project. It was so much fun living there. I met my best friend, Pat Nagarya, there and attended school at the B B Russell Elementary School. I remember the games we used to play in the schoolyard (tag, 'Red Rover Red Rover', jumprope, I was the fastest runner in our school!, Jacks, marbles, etc.) and I remember the shots for Polio. We all stood in a line and everyone was crying. It was mayhem. Wow. My teachers: 1st grade--Ms. Garrity; 2nd & 3rd grade--Miss DiDeo; 4th grade--Miss Kula (we used to say "Miss Kula does the Hula," funny children we); 5th grade--Mr. Pritchard. My first male teacher. His "reign" was traumatic for me. I left home one day without clothes (there were none in my home that I could find and my mother kept saying, "Get to school," and I was afraid of her. When I got to my classroom, Mr. Pritchard asked me to take off my coat and I told him I couldn't and he asked me why. I told him "because I don't have any clothes on." And he made me come up to the front of the room and show him. When he say that I only had my underwear on--back then we wore t-shirts, too), he sent me back home. So now I am stuck halfway between home and school trying to figure out what to do. Well, when you have no choice, you go home. And there in the middle of the living room was all the clothes that had been missing in the morning. I dressed and went back to school. It was an interesting event for me. I knew that I wasn't crazy because I had lived this "interesting" occurrence and I learned to trust my brain and no one else's. Thank You, God. I will continue this tomorrow or another time. I did want to put down on "paper" part of my life.