writing – Page 158 – Lemon Drop Pie

Turning Back Time, my new writing meme, starts tomorrow! The prompt is: Write a story about a childhood fad.

As I was thinking about this prompt over the weekend, I was wondering, How do I write more than a sentence about my fad? Telling you about a fad from my childhood is one thing; writing a whole post about it is another!

What I’m going to try to do with this prompt tomorrow is give you a feeling of the decade my fad comes from, and some of my memories of those years. Right now, my kids are collecting silly bandz and zhu zhu pets, and I want them to know what life was like when I was little. Not in a “I had it harder than you” way, but in a “I want you to know more about me” way.

Another goal I have for this meme is to inspire me to write about my parents and their memories, and I invite you to write about the people in your family, too! Here’s the entire prompt as I published it last week:

“Tell me all about it. Are limes the fashion now? It used to be pricking bits of rubber to make balls.” Meg to Amy from Little Women, by Lousia May Alcott

Write a story about a childhood fad.

You may use this prompt in a variety of ways: Record a memory from your own childhood. Remember a story told by your parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles. You may also record a story from your own children’s past (or present) to help them remember their childhood when they are older.

If the person you want to write about is still alive, use this prompt as an interview question.

Most of all, have fun recording the memory and remember, your story is worth telling!

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I am clearing out my sock drawer. Throwing out sock with holes in the heels, made by my rough skin rubbing against the fabric. Throwing out the ugly socks that I had no intentions of wearing. How did they end up in my sock drawer, anyway? I reach into the drawer, looking for something else to discard, and I pull out a cream-colored garment.

Holding it up, I automatically stretch it between my hands. I hear the elastic crinkle and pop as it stretches out and stays out. All the elasticity it once had disappeared over the years it was in my sock drawer.

I am holding up the girdle I wore eight years ago on my wedding day.

Girdles seem so outdated. I suppose they are no longer called “girdles,” but rather “shape smoothers” or something like that. No matter what they call it, it’s still a girdle.

The year I was to be married, I felt outdated as well. I felt like an old bride, getting married at the age of 33. Shopping for wedding dresses was extremely difficult; I had had a mastectomy when I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 27. That meant I didn’t have cleavage to show. My scar extends under my arm, where the surgeon removed lymph nodes. I have a nice bulge of fat by that scar. A sleeveless wedding dress was also out of the question.

Have you ever shopped for wedding dresses? Finding one with my specifications seemed like it would be impossible. I drove from wedding shop to wedding shop, looking at plunging neckline after plunging neckline. My budget was also slim, and so spending a lot of money on a custom-made dress was out of the question.

Not only that, but taking an estrogen-reducing medication for five years had caused me to gain weight. I was very self-conscious about that bulge around my middle.

Watching younger, skinnier women trying on skimpy, sexy wedding dresses made me feel old. Made me feel as old and stretched out as a piece of old, worn-out elastic.

But then, I found the dress. The dress I would wear. And it would do.

The day of my wedding came. As I gazed at my husband-to-be, waiting for me at end of the aisle, I could feel the love radiating from him. All those outdated feelings melted away. He only had eyes for me.

He still does.