Blog Archives

My First Heroine

1/25/2015

I am now four and Maria is three. We live in a small Texas town on the San Jacinto River in a house with stairs, a galley kitchen, and four bedrooms, plus a TV/game room.

There is only one reason why a family of four needs a bigger house…

HERE SHE COMES!

We’re going to call her Wendy. Not because she looked like Wendy, but because that’s the nick name I gave her. (It rhymed with her real name. Well, if you put a “y” at the end of her real name. For some reason I always put a “y” at the end of people’s names.)

I remember going to the hospital to see her. She was very small.

She had black hair and blue eyes, and could cry like nobody’s business! That girl had it all figured out in no time. Cry, and you get what you want. Smile, and people adore you. Giggle, and people give you things.

Her blue eyes and her smile melted hearts right and left.

Maria and I were quite excited to have another sister. We were very proud and told everyone about her. It was like we were the ones who’d endured 30 hours of labor, plus fierce kicks during contractions. And if you know Wendy, you know how fierce she can be!

But…I was worried.

Maria and I were so much more talented than she was! I mean, we could walk, and talk, and we could certainly feed ourselves. Why was it taking Wendy so long to learn all that? I mean, certainly, one should be able to walk before one is six months old?

At four, I didn’t understand that growing up takes time. Time…and patience.

And while she learned to walk and talk (boy howdy can she talk!), I always worried about her. She was having to follow in our footsteps, and if she didn’t achieve what we had…

Oh, how it hurt my heart to think of her sadness!

But…I needn’t have worried so much.

Her star burned brighter than ours ever did. And it was a glorious light.

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Order Up: One Staircase

1/11/2015

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As I mentioned earlier, when my parents went house-hunting , I ordered one with stairs. When you’re young it was always fun to explore different houses, and having one with stairs made the exploration an adventure.

And my parents understood that. So I got a house with stairs.

The house was painted avocado green. It went nicely with our avocado green fridge.

It had four bedrooms downstairs and only one room upstairs. It was a really big room. At least 30 cartwheels worth! To my upset, this was not going to be my bedroom. We put the TV up there instead.

I consoled myself with acrobatic exercises on the stairs. There weren’t any risers on the steps, so I could slide through the steps and hang upside down. It was pretty cool.

We would hang there forever and let the blood rush into our heads. I’m sure our parents were excited to know the stairs provided such an interesting service. When they were house hunting, I’m certain they said, “Let’s buy this house so the girls can hang upside down from the stairs!”

At almost four, I was certain that’s what my parents had intended.

At thirty five, I’m not so sure anymore.

It is probably more likely that they were counting bedrooms. Apparently, we were going to need the space…

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Church

1/4/2015

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The center of it all.

My parents were hoping it would become the touchstone of our family, and it did, but it took time. All really good things take time.

We joined a small Catholic church where my mom became a member of the choir. My dad wasn’t Catholic at the time, so he went through the classes. He took Thomas as his confirmation name. It fits him perfectly…a doubting Thomas he was.

He had four sponsors…which is also a good thing. He needed a lot of people to keep him quiet when the priest said something he didn’t agree with. My dad is a pistol. His mother called him her “banty rooster” because there wasn’t much he wouldn’t challenge. He has no fear.

I am like my father in many ways.

Dad finished his classes and became Catholic and I would have to say, he is more of a Catholic than I am. (However, he still rolls his eyes when the priest says something “stuuupid”. At least no one has to slam a hand over his mouth any longer!)

It was while Dad was going through his classes that he met a very special family. The wife of this union saved his seat for him before every class. Knowing her as I do now, she was probably praying every day that Dad would show up. She knew he needed God more than most people.

My mom jumped into every organization head first. She sang, helped with the nursery, and joined some kind of ladies’ group. It was the ladies’ group that introduced her to one very special family. The wife of this union was to become very important to me.

So, we were now members of this small church, hoping to form friendships, praying for this new place to become our home, but unable to fathom how wonderful it would all become.

At almost four, I wasn’t that impressed. I couldn’t believe I was having to waste precious daylight for the pleasure of sitting, kneeling, and standing. And sitting, kneeling, and standing some more.

I did like the music. I sang as loud as possible.

And…according to Maria, I needed to go and beg for forgiveness for killing her blanket. It was one of the commandments, she informed me imperiously.

I thought, what was the big deal? Mom sewed the thing back together, I told her…as I rolled my eyes.

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Kara O'Neal

An author who has too much to say is dangerous.

The subjects on this blog:

Monday Memories -- My Childhood

Wednesday Words -- Books!

To be a guest on my blog:

Contact: kara@karaoneal.com

Monday Memories: Cast

Kara -- Me
Maria -- sister
Wendy -- sister
Bill -- brother

M'Lynn -- mother
Drummond -- father

Grace -- mother's redheaded friend
Liam -- Grace's husband
Gorgeous (Georgie) -- oldest son and friend
Phillip -- middle son and friend
Andrew -- last child and friend

Jo -- mother's "big idea" friend
Noah -- Jo's husband who builds things
Jack -- oldest son and friend
Roxi -- middle daughter and friend
Lela -- last child and friend

Alex -- friend who travels the country and lives in Dallas
Blossom -- friend who lives in Dallas and sells houses

Miss Holly -- next door neighbor
Kirk -- middle son
Scotty -- youngest son

Lou -- uncle on my dad's side who likes baseball
Evaline -- my dad's sister who's crazy funny
Luke -- oldest son and my cousin
Han -- younger son and my cousin

Clark -- my mother's brother who bleeds maroon

Alexander -- my eldest cousin on my dad's side

Dawn -- cousin on my dad's side that is the same age as Maria