Olden-Days Beds Remembered

Sorry in advance 2 all of U who thot we were gonna have a Liz-Anthony week starting 2day. We R still in Mike's remembrances of Vancouvers past:

April,

Formerly little sis. There is something to be said for mattress comfort. That was the lesson I tried to give today to my little daughter as I showed her pictures of my trip to visit Grampa Jim and Gramma Marian in Vancouver back when I was her age.

My daughter said, “Aren’t you going to say something about what happened in these pictures?” I said, “Daughter, dear. You see that word balloon there in the first picture, where I am asking a question which takes up 5 lines of text?” My daughter said she did. I said, “Whenever the old pictures I am showing you have a really long word balloon in the very first picture, particularly if it’s a word balloon showing something I said, there is really no reason for me to add anything.” My daughter got on her knees and said, “Pray for long word balloons. Pray for long word balloons.” over and over until I told we had to look at the other pictures too.

In the first picture, Grampa Jim is showing off his pyjama-buttoning technique, which is a little odd when you consider the pyjamas I am wearing in the picture don’t have buttons. I suppose that is why he felt the need to shove his knee up into my stomach to get the leverage needed. When I examine the picture, I think I should have been looking at his twisted and malformed hands, but probably in those days, I thought all old people had twisted and malformed hands. So instead I asked my Grampa Jim, “Do I really get to sleep in the same bed mom slept in when she was little, Grampa?” My daughter said, “Why did you ask that?” I said, “Daughter, dear. When I was little, I thought my mother was really old, so it seemed incredible to me Grampa Jim would have a bed that old too, without it falling apart.” My daughter said, “Oh. It wasn’t?” I said, “No. Let’s look at the next picture for Grampa Jim’s answer.”

Sure enough in the next picture, I was in bed and Grampa Jim was pulling the sheets over me and the word balloon showed his answer, “Yep!—Your mom slept here, dreamed her, did her thinking here…” My daughter said, “He didn’t answer until you got all the way in bed.” I said, “Grampa Jim was like that. He was a hard man. If you want an answer to a question, first you have to do something for him. Most times, it was to hide his cigars in your suitcase, or forget the time you saw him with a blonde lady who wasn’t Gramma Marian; but this time it was to get into bed.” My daughter said, “So Gramma Elly did sleep there. Why did Grampa Jim say she had dreams and did thinking there too?” My very astute daughter had once again picked up on a subtle message, and I really did not want to get into mom’s story about the occasions which necessitated her being locked in her room for days at a time, so I said, “My mom was good at multitasking. That means she could do 3 things at once---Sleep, dream and think. Isn’t that impressive?” My daughter said, “Not really, daddy.” I said, “Let’s look at the next picture.”

As I showed my daughter the next picture, she immediately shrieked, “Grampa Jim. His arm stretched to turn off that light. Is he like Mr. Fantastic in the Fantastic Four?” I said, “No, daughter. His arm isn’t nearly as stretchy as Mr. Fantastic; but it was still very impressive. Notice the way I say, 'Sigh'.” My daughter said, “Was he your hero?” I said, “No. I liked to keep my light on at night.”

Finally, in the last picture, there was Grampa Jim with a quizzical look on this face, as I led into my moral of the story ---the importance of a comfortable mattress. I said, “…For an olden days bed, it feels pretty good!” My daughter said, “Can I get a new mattress on my bed? It’s the old bed Gramma Elly left us. For an olden days bed, it feels pretty bad!” I said, “Daughter. I have spent more than 2 weeks going through old photo albums to keep you entertained. Is that something a dad with enough money to buy a new bed would do?” My daughter said, “Sigh. No, daddy.” I said, “Exactly.”

More photo albums tomorrow, formerly little sis. Maybe we will discuss important things like measuring the quality of olden days toothbrushes or olden days toilets.

Love,
Michael Patterson

Wow, Merrie's pretty sharp w/her questions and observations. R U sure U're really her father? Oh, never mind. I don't blame her 4 wanting a new bed, tho I guess she hasta w8 until she's old enuf 2 make sum $ 4 herself by babysitting. So she can save up and buy 1 on her own.

Apes