Chapter Six

One thing I never did, until I was out of college, was take summer school classes. Summer was for fun! Time to go to the pool, play in the garden, visit places, and spend time with relatives! So, it goes without saying, I didn’t go to summer school. Instead, I went to the Girl Scout Camp for two weeks. When I wasn’t in camp, I was at the neighborhood swimming pool; along with these activity, we would take drives to historic sites, the beach, or visit relatives in Tennessee and West Virginia.

I’ve already said a few good things about Girl Scout camp, but I learned so many personal traits while there. I grew into a young woman and a leader. However, I did not grow into a fashion conscious, makeup using, beauty queen! I grew into an outdoors woman; those times at camp honed my skills in archery, orienteering, music, sailing, canoeing, and storytelling. Those two to four weeks, each summer, I was developing skills that would help me in later life. Learning to persevere, analyze problems, search for solutions, and function as part of a team. The activities that I participated in gave me creative outlets as an adult; they also helped me focus on skills that would become my profession for 43 years, and my avocation for 30 years. Educator by trade and Paramedic/Firefighter/EMS Instructor by free will.

As you recall, I talked about my mother signing me up for every conceivable extracurricular activity. She didn’t just do this during the school year; she also did it during the summertime. During one summer of my junior high school years, she signed me up for a talent show in the park. I vaguely remember her plotting, with my piano teacher, to ensure that I could play at least one decent song in this little competition. On the night of the talent show, I was dressed up in an evening gown, dragged to the Norfolk City Park, and prodded to play that piano. So, there I was all dressed up, playing the snake dance on the piano, in the middle of the park, with all these people watching. Somewhere in the middle of the song, I got lost and could not find my place in the music; so, I just kept repeating the chorus, until I figured out where I belonged, and ended the song. Unbelievably, I won an award. Unbelievable! I hated performing in front of people! Even today I hate people watching me play the piano!

The next course my mother signed me up for was charm lessons. These lessons were taught at the old Center Shops in downtown Norfolk. They trained us to walk, sit, smile, and sip tea. We also learned how to make pomander balls from oranges and cloves. The culmination of this class was a fashion show where I had to model clothing. I was assigned to model a very cute A-line sailor dress and an evening dress. I knew my parents could not afford to purchase either one of those dresses, but I felt like a princess, and my self-esteem was off the charts. Even after paying to have my hair styled, my mother found a way to pay for that sailor dress! I loved it and I loved her! 

Sandwiched in between the talent shows and the charm classes were chores. I’m not talking about making your bed, which was a given. I’m talking about cleaning the house and doing yard work. Both my sister and I had specific chores. Chris was responsible for getting dinner started. She almost burnt the house down when she caught the kitchen on fire! My chores were cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming, and hand-clipping the grass underneath the chain-link fence. When I was old enough, mowing the yard was added to my list of chores. However, mowing was kind of fun, because my parents had an electric lawnmower; you just plugged it into the outside receptacle and made sure you didn’t run over that extension cord. To this day, I abhor weeding flowerbeds and sidewalk cracks, plus performing certain yard work. 

Around the end of every month, as I alluded to before, mother bundled us kids in the station wagon and off we would go to the commissary, for our monthly grocery shopping. It pretty much trashed our Saturday, because it took most of the day to purchase the groceries, load them in the car, get them home, unload the groceries, and store the food where it belonged. At least I got to spread out my yardwork chores. I tried to get those finished early in the day, so that I could go to the pool and become a water rat.

During the summers, I can also remember going to the beach in the late afternoons. I don’t mean the Atlantic Ocean; I mean the Chesapeake Bay. One of the perks of being a Navy brat is that your parents can take you to the beach on the amphibious base. I remember the parking lot being covered with some type of metal runway material over the sand; However, the beach was nice, there were lifeguards, and not a lot of people. You see not just anyone could get on that beach! You had to be active duty or retired military, plus have an ID card. We didn’t get to go everyday but we did manage once or twice a week. The rest of my time was spent in a swimming pool. see PHOTOS 1-4