Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Board - Bored (01/12/23)
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TITLE: The Summer Of My Content | Previous Challenge Entry
By Linda Lawrence
01/18/23 -
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That summer, my Uncle Marion and Aunt Edna proposed that I board with them for the summer and babysit my two young cousins. I could earn my keep by taking care of household chores during the day and cleaning up the kitchen after supper. Babysitting gave me a chance to earn money for school clothes. I was glad to leave the confusion of my home for the summer.
Aunt Edna was a nurse, a confident take-charge personality, who worked from 8 to 3 on weekdays. Uncle Marion enjoyed his laid-back days as a barber and was happy for whatever was on Aunt Edna’s to-do-list on the weekends. Diane and Carol were darling, compliant, giggly, sweet little girls who enjoyed all my suggestions for turning work into play. A tuna or peanut butter and jelly sandwich was all it took to make them smile at lunchtime.
Being in a house with a television was a grand treat for me and the girls and I looked forward each week to watching the Liberace Show. We danced and tumbled around to the music, wearing ourselves out until we were ready to settle down and read. The girls were so cuddly; I felt loved.
Even the chores to earn my board gave me a kind of satisfaction I didn’t experience when asked to do them by my folks. My job of cleaning the kitchen took the most time and was what gave Aunt Edna her chance to relax that summer. She enjoyed cooking comfort food so there was lots of mess and dirty pots and pans. Since clean-up was my last responsibility of the day I was always eager to be finished as soon as I could. For years after, Aunt Edna teased me about the summer she lost weight because I cleared the table so fast she never had a chance to have seconds. But she didn’t complain.
That’s what I loved about being with these relatives. No one complained. I was used to tension and complaining and arguing. Uncle Marion and my dad were not much alike. Dad’s unhappiness kept him from enjoying his family. He was as unhappy with Mom and each of us kids as he was with himself. I know he loved us, but his way of showing love was to “help” us by always pointing out what we could do better. He wasn’t satisfied with us or himself.
I escaped my home’s tension by living in books whenever I could find a quiet spot to read. That summer I had the ultimate luxury—a room of my own. But the funny thing is I didn’t want to escape, especially when Uncle Marion was home. He treated me like one of his adored girls, and he loved them well. I just wanted love and approval.
Even my stupidity did not draw forth scowls or frowns. In the bathroom I saw Uncle Marion’s straight-edge razor. While the girls napped one day I decided to secretly “borrow” the razor to shave my legs for the first time. No instruction and no shaving cream left a lot of blood running down my leg. Well, I know my aunt and uncle were not fooled by my story of falling and badly scraping my shinbone. However, they saw I’d learned my lesson and let me keep my dignity.
I loved the weekends when, after church, they often took their boat to the lake. This was a new, luxurious experience for me. How thrilling, after only a few tries, to board a wakeboard and skim over the water. But just as thrilling was to sit with Uncle Marion and the girls on shore or in a quiet cove of the lake and silently fish. That was the summer of peace and contentment. I felt loved and accepted every day.
I’m thankful my aunt and uncle needed my help that summer. Looking back, I see that Jesus’ acceptance was really all I needed all along, but they gave me a taste of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Eventually, Dad did come home but he never found his happiness. He kept looking in the wrong places.
Memoir
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