By: Revanche

A stroll down memory lane: a few of my favorite things

June 24, 2015

I’d been reminiscing about my mom, and even though there are some material things I cherish, the clearest, most important memories were more about how she was a great person and an amazing example for an awkward and introverted little kid.

Naturally, I think some activities are worth the money (traveling, learning new cultures, learning that the world is a big place, delicious foods), but I tend to be heavily biased toward the kind of childhood things that money can’t buy.

My Favorite …

Childhood birthday gift: my first and very own piggy bank from my older cousins. I still have it and will probably pass it on to LB.

Adulthood birthday gift: everything PiC picks. But if I had to choose just one, it’d be the Tiffany necklace he picked. I never would have picked it myself because it was extravagant and unnecessary. But if I were to pick something from their catalog, this was the one piece that would have made the cut. It was a cute pendant, in a shape I liked, and fairly low-priced for a Tiffany piece.

Food: Pho. Spring rolls. Cheese. Bacon. Pasta. Bread. Bartlet Pears. Prosciutto. Carnitas. I can’t do this one.

Travel Destination: Italy. Eating in Italy. Probably all of it. Send me to explore the rest of it to be sure!

Person: PiC. LB is a close second but we have to wait and see if ze becomes a human we respect and like, as well as love automatically as hir parents.

My Favorite Memories

Elementary school: my parents’ sticker system. We could earn stickers from school for doing various good things. Every 10 stickers we brought home could be redeemed for a small slurpee from the 7-11 down the street. I drank a lot of slurpees.

Poker face: Mom used to say she could read me like a book. As I got older, she explained that while this worked well for her as a parent, it wouldn’t be good for me in the outside world if strangers could read my mood and therefore manipulate me. That’s when it clicked that she wasn’t telling me I couldn’t have emotions or opinions, just don’t project them! I finally mastered the blank-neutral face a year before she died.

Temper, temper: Tempers are a family legacy but Mom firmly believed that we could overcome almost any genetic flaw. It took years for me to learn to quit letting my temper lead the way.

I have skills?: Cousin G taught both my sibling and I the art of manipulating yarn. He got crocheting lessons and I got knitting lessons.

Love thy face: Mom discouraged the use of makeup early on. She didn’t disapprove of it, she used it regularly herself, she just preferred that I didn’t make it a habit before I was 16 or so. She used makeup in an era when the ingredients weren’t always kosher and could contain dangerous bleaching chemicals to achieve the complexion smoothing or whitening effect that many ladies sought. Until and unless I could afford good quality makeup, she cautioned, it was best not to risk my skin. Besides, if I became too used to always wearing a full face, it could be hard to appreciate my normal unadorned face. This made enough sense that I never got into makeup during those early years when experimental (and often bad) makeup was expected and now I just don’t wear it because I lack the basic skills. *shrug* Someday I’ll learn.

What are some of your favorite things & memories?

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