Category: writing

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Mommy’s Piggy Tales: Letters From Home

Aug. 25, 1987

Dear Ginny,
    I will try to make Tues. my day to write to you. Your Father has already written, as he cannot stop talking about leaving his little Ginny at college…I hope that today you will have good luck registering for classes and getting your books. Everything else should be a piece of cake! As classes start, I’m sure you’ll get into a routine and settle in quickly. Of course, many people asked about you Sunday (it couldn’t be because Daddy mentioned taking you to college in his sermon, could it?!) Everyone wishes you well.

                                                                      We love you,
                                                                                 Mom

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Dear Ginny,
    This is my day off, but I had chapel today and did some other stuff…Last night Mom and Meredith went to the Lyric Opera. The G—-‘s couldn’t go so they gave us the tickets. I couldn’t go with Mom — had an appointment and PTL meeting — so Meredith went. It was a modern one, so a little boring — but O.K. I guess. I love you ginny — God keep you safe. Behave and study a lot!
                                                                          Dad

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8/24/87

Dear Ginny,

    Did you really think I wasn’t going to write you? What kind of a sister do you think I am?…People keep asking me if I miss you. Of all the stupid questions! I must’ve got asked that 15 times yesterday. It was driving me absolutely nutso!… I think I shall write a letter to K, too. —From hearing stories about what her roommate is like, it sounds like she could use a little cheering up! So I’ll say goodbye — you could write back, if you really wanted too! Have fun (but be good!)

                                                                      Love,
                                                                      Meredith
                                                                      (your sister)

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Tuesday, August 25, 1987

Dear Ginny,
   Thank you very much for the two-dollar bill. I will never spend it. The year when it was printed is the year I was born in!….How is the weather you’re having? It rained last night and has been raining almost all day. How are you getting along with Peggy? Is she nice? By her picture I would think she is. When you get this, I won’t expect you to write back right away because you’ll probably be very busy. When you do write back you could combine letters on one piece of paper.
                                                                      Yours truly,
                                                                       Jamie (your loving brother. HaHa)

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Sept. 15, 1987

Dear Ginny,
    I’m sorry I haven’t been writing. I haven’t forgotten about you. Actually, I kept reminding myself to write to you. School is keeping me busy (probably not as busy as you, but busy).
    This typewriter is driving me crazy. You must be glad to have the new one. Have You used it much?…I don’t mind if you show this to your friends, but if you do, tell them I’m doing the righ t fingering, not just picking it out with my first finger.
   Don’t get homesick, just keep in mind that we love you. Write as much as you can, because I love mail, too. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO and many more!!
                                                                    Your  Loving Sister,
                                                                    Heather Jo

P.S. Which is X and which is O?

As I was going through my memory box for earlier posts, I found a stack of old letters I had saved. These are excerpts from letters I received soon after I left for college.

Continue telling Mommy’s Piggy TALES with me! Starting October 11, I’ll be writing a guest post on my Young Adult Years each Monday at Mommy’s Piggy TALES! We will write six posts remembering our young adult years. Janna, author of Mommy’s Piggy TALES, and I will provide suggested prompts to help you write your posts. Please email me – lemondroppie(at)gmail(dot)com – to sign up!

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Mommy’s Piggy Tales: Preschool and Kindergarten

Janna of Mommy’s Piggy Tales began a project to share our youth with our children. Every Thursday, I will tell a story about my childhood as if I were telling it to my children. At the end of this project, I’ll have a collection of stories about my childhood for my children to keep, and hopefully treasure.

* * * * * 

When I was little, I spent the whole summer with bare feet. So it is no surprise to me that I remember having bare feet when we were moving from Nebraska to Illinois.

I was three years old, and we were spending the night in a hotel. My grandparents, your great-grandma and grandpa, were helping us move, and Grandpa Jim was driving the moving truck. We got to the hotel first, and as we saw Grandpa Jim pulling the truck into the parking lot, I ran down the sidewalk waving to him. Great-Grandpa was just behind me, and he saw something I didn’t see — a big ol’ bumblebee, flying down from the roof of the hotel straight for my big toe! He ran up behind me, grabbed me under the arms, (I remember seeing his brown shoes) and yanked me away from that bee!

That bee had a one-track mind, and he stung my big toe anyway! It hurt like the dickens! Grandma Loreeta immediately put some ice in a bowl, and we soaked my toe in ice water. That made my toe feel a lot better!

* * * * * 

When I was little, there wasn’t preschool in the town I lived in. I didn’t go to school until I was five years old, and then I went to Kindergarten.

We lived in a very small town. The town has a Lutheran church, where Grandpa Jim was the pastor, and the church has a school, which is where I went to school. Everybody knew everyone else in our town. I knew a lot of the teachers already, especially since they went to church with us and were friends of Grandpa and Grandma.

One day, I decided to bring my brand-new jump rope to school. It was raining that day, so we had recess in the gym. Recess included everyone, not just the kindergartners! I soon abandoned my jump rope, and some other kids started playing with it. The sixth grade teacher saw that these kids were misbehaving with MY jump rope, and so he took it away from them. I saw this, ran over to the sixth grade teacher, and grabbed my jump rope away from him! I told him it was MY JUMP ROPE, and my mommy told me not to lose it!

Grandma Loreeta loved telling me this story, about the time her little kindergartner stood up to the sixth-grade teacher!