Posts
When
I was little, my Aunt LoLita was my favorite person in the whole world. She and
my uncle would travel a lot setting up grocery stores in the US and Europe.
Sometimes when they would visit, my brother and I would get airline card decks
and swizzle sticks. Whenever we were outside and saw a plane fly overhead, we
would always wave and say “Hi, Aunt LoLita!”
When
my mom, brother and I traveled from Kansas City to California where my dad had
gotten work, we went by train. I was very young, maybe 4. My mom was busy with
my baby brother and I had to sit by myself. The lady I was sitting next to took
out a large chocolate bar and offered me some. *I had always been told I was
allergic to chocolate, so I said no and explained why. At night I got up to go
the bathroom and since everything was dark I had trouble trying to find my seat
back. Someone on the aisle took my arm to guide me.
I’ve
already written about driving from Kansas City to California to move my
grandparents out to live with us. Several times when my brother and I were
young, we would get in the car and drive a long ways (long to me, anyway) for
vacation. We would stay in cheap motels with no TV. Boring as all get out for
youngsters. My dad would make us drink prune juice in the mornings to keep us
regular.
*Side
note regarding the supposed chocolate allergy. When I was about 3 years old, my
hands would break out a lot, get very sore, almost bleeding. At night my dad
would apply some icky salve to all my fingers. I was told that it was because I
was allergic to chocolate. I don’t remember when the “allergy” seemed to end,
but at some point I wasn’t using the salve anymore and could eat chocolate.
Many years later, my Aunt LoLita told me that it was all stress, in her
opinion. Whenever I would spend a few days with her, she would put the tube of
salve on top of the fridge and give me chocolate whenever I wanted and I had
absolutely no ill effects.
