Friday, November 30, 2007

Old Jenny


I remember Jenny, a small chubby-cheeked farm girl that came to live with me for 5 days at summer camp. She had long firey red hair and blue eyes. Her smile brought forth dimples deep enough to take a bath in.
She was an angry child.
I loved her so much. She reminded me of my childhood and struggling with parents. She grew up with only her dad and various step siblings. I remember after that summer she asked me if I could adopt her. and I said I would......and you can, really, without the official paperwork. When you're 18 you just say yes! She came to camp, walls built high, and somehow I managed to find a loose plank in her life. a "red hair " connection...and we became fast friends.
Jenny and I had dinner once and we decided to wrap our thumbs down and try to eat soup with no thumbs to hold our spoons. it was very difficult and dinner seemed to take for hours and somehow we seemed to return to the pot for seconds.
Tomatoe soup , red hair, and relationship. raw, uncut, real.
Like going to visit my Juanita and arriving after her groceries hit the floor and so our girl time consisted of unwrapping a kajillion bags of food and rearranging the refrigerator, while coffee perked and our 5 children lived their chaotic playful lives in the basement.
Who doesn't sort groceries?
How many people today eat without thumbs to assist them, or arms for that matter?
Today my Carpul Tunnel is flared....and my thumb hates me. Even typing at this keyboard my thumb screams and writhes in pain...only 20 more minutes till the meds kick in though. this writing is a mild distraction. then when the pain is gone I'll have some lunch.

I think Tomatoe soup is on the menu.
Maybe I'll sort out my fridge....
and in a sense spend the day with Jenny and My Juanita.
I love Jenny. I miss her.....