WHAT IS FEED BACK?

December 30

The gift of self to my children this Christmas was a 75 page, hand written memory book. The book would mean nothing to anyone else because it was written from the inside of the family circle. What is so precious to Old Trunks is, Rachel took the time to reminisce back.

Please enjoy:


I just finished reading my book. I laughed so much when I got to the conversations with Bud that I had tears streaming down my face. I could hear us saying all of those things together. I could hear myself saying BUD! and how well I remember him saying, "we got reamed! we got ripped!"


What a wonderful gift. I will cherish it always.


Thank you for taking the time to write down all of those memories by hand :)


You had some questions in the book, and here are my answers!

Love you,Rachel



First job-I think that Allyson and I started our babysitting business the summer after fifth grade. Mrs. Hawley knew us because she was a student teacher in Mrs. Johnson's class.I am now thinking about my entrepreneurial spirit and how it existed even back then, when we started our babysitting business.


M&M Twins-the oldest daughter was named Frances. She hated it when I'd come over because she knew Edwina was leaving. She was a real handful, and the only thing she liked was when I'd record Sesame Street and play it in their VCR. She would yell "F- YOU, Rachel," when I'd get to their house. The younger daughter was Becca, and she had all those beautiful blond curls.


Shoes-I don't know when they became an important fashion accessory for me. But, I remember how upset I was when those new shoes got dirty and I remember running all the way back home and how you brought me back to school and how odd it felt to walk in late. Authors note: Rachel had patent leather shoes and she had to walk in the grass and they got dusty.


I've given up all shoe vanity for the winter and am now wearing snow boots daily so that I won't slip on the ice or get snow inside my shoes when I'm scraping yet another round of snow and ice from my windshield.


Remember the summer you made me all those cute dresses and I had those pink pumps to go with the white dress that had the pink tie? Authors note: She discovered I could make four dresses for the price of one purchased at the store.


Soap Operas-You took notes on General Hospital for me. Renee McGhee is the one who got me hooked on the soaps. General Hospital was the first one and then I also got addicted to One Life to Live. I did not know that soap opera watching was a genetic trait. *teasing* Authors note: It was her grandmother who got started watching One Life to Live while eating her lunch delivered by Meals on Wheels.

Vic 20 I simply had the drive to learn how to write a program, so I taught myself how to do it. One of the best things you ever taught me was that I could teach myself anything I wanted to learn. There was a booklet that came with the Vic 20 that taught the basics of a program called Basic, so I studied it and then put it into practice. I don't know if you know that Allyson, Kevin, Bud and I spent hours trying to program their TRS-80. We even developed a shorthand for the code we were attempting to write. However, not one of those programs would ever run--the programs we wrote were too long and too full of errors. Authors note: Vic 20 was a computer unit on which Bud and Rachel played games. The game blew up when a very large, very cold soda, which was left on the ladder stairs to the loft got knocked over, killing the game and the TV all at the same time.



Bars in the Backyard-I do remember them, along with the swing set and the Rocket Ship. I think we must have had the best backyard ever. Oh, and the sand box. We'd spend hours sifting sand to make it really soft. We called it "sympathy." You asked me if I actually knew what that word meant, LOL. I didn't. Authors note: Rachel liked to play on the bars at school, we installed two heights of them at home. She made sympathy using a bright orange colander, a gift from the Easter bunny.


Novel Writing-I am amazed that people used to write books by hand. Author John Grisham wrote his first novel, long-hand, on yellow legal pads. I have often thought that I need more computer free days, but the thought of committing words to paper by hand is a giant mental block for me.


Kangaroos-We were such a clique, and with girls, it's just not going to work when people start getting gossipy about each other. The clique broke apart before high school, but then we tried to put it back together again but it was too late--we all had our own interests and were developing new friendships at that time. The best advice you and dad gave me was "what comes around, goes around." Well, I still have a problem with wanting to "share stories".


Libraries-Jaeme does not like to read. I hoped if I could find a series that she enjoyed that she'd get into it more. We finally found one last summer called "A Series of Unfortunate Events" and she's read almost every volume. I do remember the old library. They later turned it into a community center of sorts, and I took a drama class there (with Allyson Downs.)


Lunch Boxes-The lunch box had my name spelled out on the top with red felt like letters. The L fell off, so Bud started calling me Rach. He's the only one who'll I'll let call me Rach to this day, ha ha. Now I have a craving for Spaghettios because that's what I often got in my thermos when that bag would slide down the hall to me. Authors note: On days Old Trunks worked play ground duty at the elementary school, I would bring Rachel's lunch bucket to school and slide it down the hall. The good kids got to sit in the hall and work, she would intercept it. I had forgotten about her name being on it.


Heat-When I get cold, I still turn the heater up (almost) as high as it will go, ROFL. But not in the summer! Authors note: When the A/C was running and she got cold, she would turn the furnace on.


Can I?-I still say this, ha ha. Carlos teases me about it. All this holiday week, I was saying, "can we turn on the fireplace?" "Can we make coffee?" "Can we go to Ulta and see if they are open?"


Cleaning My Car-I did really well this summer. Now I keep telling Jaeme, "we'll clean out the car next __________________." It has not happened yet.


Old Trunks encourages all parents to make a memory journal for their children. Perhaps the feed back will be a tremendous blessing for you as well as a gift for them.