Yesterday Paige asked me if I would play barbies with her. Neither one of my girls have ever been that too interested in playing with barbies and that has been ok with me. I loved playing baby dolls instead with them. I don't know but barbie just seems to put a damper on my life. And here is why.
When I was little I always thought I would grow up and have "The Barbie Doll Dream World" life. Barbie could do anything and she always looked pretty doing it. She had the best of the best. And I thought that was how life was when I was ten years old. I think I was around 27 when I realized I wasn't going to have the barbie doll dream world that I had imagined when I was around 10 or 12 years old. So this is ok with me if my girls don't want to absorb themselves into barbie. Guess when I was a kid their wasn't much other options to play with like there are today.
See my grandma's whole entire family lived on one street when I was a kid (dad's mom). Grandpa Walker use to pick Matt and I up from school every afternoon. Our school was on the same street that my grandparents lived on which made it all the more of a merry world. My great-grandmother lived next door. Aunt Ruby and Uncle Homer lived across the street and Uncle Richard and Aunt Bonnie lived down the street a few blocks. I spent countless hours on that street. I just thought that was how life was suppose to be. We lived a few blocks away and my other grandmother lived on the other side of town not to far away as did one of my aunts. All of my cousins were right there to play with every afternoon and the world was a safer place to us back then. We ran the street.
When I was 10 we moved away to another town way out in the country. I hated it! I didn't have anyone to play with and I couldn't go see my grandparents like I did every day. Crashing of my barbie doll reality. So I thought when I grew up I would have all of my family living on the same street with me again. I just knew my brother was going to live across the street and Darren was going to live next door and we would just live happily ever after. So NOT reality! First of all I'm the only one that had children! And second of all they don't live here anymore. Matt moved away to New Hampshire with his wife and her family. He doesn't come home anymore. Darren just moves around to different places.
Playing barbie dolls with Paige brought back this flood of memories yesterday! Although this may sound like a sad memory, it's really not. It brings back wonderful memories of growing up on that street with my grandparents. I can still taste Aunt Ruby's sweet tea. Man alive that tea would knock the socks off you today. Just take red diamond sweet tea and add a whole content bag of sugar to it and you had Aunt Ruby's tea. Making black eye peas and sugar cookies reminds me of Grandma Copeland's house. Many smells take me back to that street. I do wish my children could have this type of special street too.
I had another special sweet memory at church this morning. Our church kicked off a summer revival this morning and brought in a barbershop quintet and a really old time preacher. One of the hell fire and brim stone kind. Now mind you our preacher is not this way at all. So I was expecting some real hard hitting pulpit preaching this morning but it wasn't to bad. He was really good. But the quintet was amazing! I remembered how much I loved the old gospel hymns and especially the way they sung them.
So the special memory I have is of my grandpa again. He wasn't much of a church going kind of man. He loved the Lord though. There was a church on the corner into their neighborhood and every time they had a revival he was there. And he would usually take us with him since we spent a lot of time with him. Grandma John didn't go with him usually just him and us. That man got baptized at every revival!! That's what was cracking me up this morning. As an adult now I know that you only need to be baptized one time and you are re-born and forgiven of all of your past sins. Some how my grandpa felt like he had to really be re-born! I wonder now what all he felt like he had to be forgiven of! This brought a smile to my face this morning and made me laugh out loud. Funny how things from my childhood keep creeping up on me like that here lately.
So back to the barbie doll dream world. When I was 27 I hit rock bottom. Was ready to run away from life and then totally crashed at 31 and wanted to end my life. I spent a year in counseling and that image of the barbie doll dream world came up. Now I have had to re-create what I think my world is and you know what, its better then the barbie doll dream world I use to have. Because when I was little my barbie dolls didn't have a crash 'em up bang 'em kind of roll over car wreck like ours did yesterday on their way to the Hannah Montana concert in Paige's bedroom. It was such a sad wreck to. Hannah Montana had to cancel her show because she was hit by a flying ball across the room and our barbies had to go to the movies instead. Guess that's what happens when you have a 4 year old little brother come trying to invade in barbie land.
Paige getting the barbies ready to go to the concert.
Leah washing the barbies hair.
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