[This post is the six journal entries I made the summer of 1997, 11 years old]
1
Well we're in Seattle. It's nothing like I imagined. I imagined tall work buildings, clean sidewalks, flat roads, quiet, the space needle with a roller coaster and a waterslide beside it like I saw in the book "Above Seattle:. Well, guess again. The buildings are tall but not like I imagined. I thought the buildings would be new and shiny. But they aren't they are old. They have leaves and ivy growing up the side. I guess you could say it looks pretty with the plants, but still. I have to share a room with my sister, Dana. The room has two long stairs going into it, two big doors with latches instead of door-knobs, a closet, I meant the room is in our apartment. The apartment buildings are the ones that are old and have leaves and ivy growing growing up the side. Most of the buildings I've seen are old, too. The sidewalks around our apartment buildings are littered. Coke bottles, newspapers, and other trash have been littered. I'm just glad we're moving into another apartment on Wednesday. (More about that later.) The roads are sooo hilly. It's like San Francisco!
2
Noises
Oh the noises! Birds cawwing, lawnmowers, cars and trucks, and ambulances. I wonder how I'm ever going to sleep. Also I've seen the space needle from a distance. I'm not sure about the roller coaster or the water slide. On the way down here Bob from the Fred Hutchinson Center said there was a F.A.O. Schwartz, Nike store, Nordstrom, and there's a super mall I saw in the brochure! Maybe Seattle is not so bad after all.
June 16, 1997
Today we went to a science museum and F.A.O. Schwartz! I got a little frog. His name is Mini Pistachio. He is a tree frog. I like to call him Froggy. He is light green with light pink feet. He's very cute!
June 23, 1997
We are in our new apartment. We've been in it since Wed. Before I tell you why we moved I should tell you why we're here. My dad has cancer. It's his 3rd year to have it and his 4th stage. We're here to get him cured at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. He's going to have a bone marrow transplant in July and he'll be weak when he gets out of the hospital. That's why we moved. The other apartment had stairs that he wouldn't be able to climb the stairs. Plus my grandpa can't climb stairs because of his back. This apartment has an elevator. My grandparents have an apartment on the 2nd floor and we have an apartment on the 26th floor! It's really the 25th because they don't have a 13th floor. That's because some people think it's unlucky to have a 13th floor. Cool, huh? Anyway today we went to the Hutch School Summer Program. I think I'll call it H.S.S.P. We made pinatas and fruit salad. I made new friend. Her name is Kayla. She is from Denver, Colorado. We also have 3 native Americans and 6 russian kids who are all from the same family. (I mean russians one family, Native Americans another family) Today we were playing outside jumping rope and there was an earthquake! We didn't even feel it. But my mom sure did. She was in our apartment and the building started shaking and swaying and the light ficture swung! Tomorrow we're going to the zoo with the H.S.S.P. It'll be fun!
June 28, 1997
The other day we went to the zoo with H.S.S.P. It was fun! I'm beginning to be good friends with Alina and Oksana (2 kids from the russian family.) Kayla, Oksana, Alina, and I rode in Murav's car (Murav is one of the counselor's at Hutch School). At the zoo we hid from Dana's group. When we were getting popcorn Dana and Drew's group came and I hid behind a gumball machine. The others hid beside me by a fence.
After the zoo we went to a beautiful garden to eat lunch. After lunch Kayla and I walked around the garden. There was a bunny and the boys chased it away. Before we left we played freeze tag. It was soooo fun. Thursday we went to Lake Washington to swim. It was sooo cold. It felt kind of different swimming in Lake Washington. I guess because I'm from Tennessee. My uncle Joe and Aunt Cindy and their baby Linden came last night. Linden looks like Rachel, her older sister. Linden is soooo cute. Right now Linden is 17 months.
August 7, 1997
I haven't written in here for a long time. I guess I'll start where I left off. One night when Joe and Cindy were here my sister and I babysat for Linden. When my aunt and uncle left Linden didn't cry. She would just ask "Where's mommy" or "Where's Daddy." I would reply "Mommy and Daddy are out eating dinner. They'll be back really soon." Sometimes Dana or I would give Linden a ride around they're apartment in her stroller. Linden would also play with the stuffed animals and dolls we brought or hide things in pots and pans and containers. "Where is it?" she would ask, I would say "Where'd it go?" Then should lift the tops of the pots, pans, and containers. "There it is" I said. She would smile and do it again. When Linden was hungry she would say Ba ba for Bottle and Nana for food. Sometimes she would try to take take her diaper off because she didn't want it on. When it got late she started to cry. We tried to put on her pajamas but she would be stubborn and not let us. She would cry and cry, it would make me cry, too. I knew how she felt. She missed her mom and so did I. When her parents finally came home she stopped crying and we left. (More later).
December 20, 1998
It's 11:03 P.M. I can't find my regular diary and started looking through this one. I really wish I had written in my journal some more! I guess I didn't have time to with the Hutch School, writing letters, family, visiting dad at the hospital, family and friends coming and going, shopping and having fun. Well, all I have now are memories. I'm going to try to remember as much as I can.
I was so tired after baby-sitting Linden. I remember wanting to go home and cry. My back had hurt. I knew how Linden felt missing her parents. I really wanted my mom that night but she had to stay at the hospital with dad. I love to just hug my mom. Sometimes we hug for five minutes straight. Sometimes it would hurt my back but now I've frown, and my mom doesn't have to lean over to hug me.
[In the very back of my journal I wrote down these words to help me recall memories to write about that I never did end up writing about]
july 4th
Renfros visiting (coming, leaving)
Romers visiting (Canada, coming back from Can.
knocking on door,
getting mad at pappy
restraunts
feeling guilty
crying w/ Allison
crying when Allison left
Allison's b-day
David's b-day
Hutch school
1 comment:
I too wish I had written more! I have so many memories and pictures from that summer! I love you so much and am so proud of you! Your Dad is too! :) love, mary
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