You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?
I was born five minutes before my identical twin and to this day when I write about my childhood it is never I, always we.
My Life As A Twin
Author: nancyb422
I am a collector of family history - pictures, stories, facts - whatever I can get my hands on. I share that at It's All About Family. I started Thoughts From the Passenger Seat because I have a lot on my mind! It started riding on the back of my husband's motorcycle and on business appointments but I don't do much of either anymore but the thoughts are still there.
I enjoy writing and I hope you find something that you connect with on either of my blogs.
Thoughtsfromthepassengerseat.blog - Thoughts From the Passenger Seat
NancyB422.com - It’s All About Family
Hearing Myself Talk
There’s an article today in the New York Times Wellness Section entitled “You’re Never Too Old for Story Time” that talks about why adults to read aloud to one another and how to get started. That brought back memories!
It must have been when Cody was still in elementary school, maybe middle school, that on a few occasions during long car rides I would read to him and my husband.
My two favorites were both by the same author, Richard Peck. A Long Way From Chicago and A Year Down Yonder. They were books I was introduced to while I was a library assistant in a K-5 school.
The first involves a brother and sister who go to their grandmother’s home one summer. It is described as short stories but they all blend right into one another.
The second, is about the sister who is living there on her own with her grandmother, her brother having joined the army.
I read them both on my own at first and, even now I’m tearing up thinking about the stories! I knew my husband and son would both enjoy them so on a trip I would bring along one of the books and read.
I clearly remember getting to a part and saying “ok, give me a minute to get weepy so I don’t do it while I’m reading!”. We usually managed to finish a book on the trip.
I still have those two books on my bookshelf. I think it’s time to read them again.
A Thoughtful Christmas Gift
Share one of the best gifts you’ve ever received.
For Christmas quite a few years ago, my husband gave me (and him) tickets to Wicked on Broadway. He pulled them out of the tree at the end of the gift giving and handed them to me.
I started crying because I was so happy but also because I felt like he really understood what I would like.
He talked to a friend about different plays and she told him she thought I would like that best. The biggest gift was that he was going with me, even though he doesn’t like to go to plays!
It was a Wednesday matinee, we took the train in from Connecticut and we both had a great time.
I’m Just Too Honest
Have you ever unintentionally broken the law?
As I was putting my groceries in my car in the Walmart parking lot, I found a makeup item that was stuck at the bottom of my cart. Oh no! I accidentally shop lifted something!
I believe in Karma so after getting everything in the car, I went back into Walmart, explained the situation to the front person and went to the self-checkout and checked the item out.
If I didn’t, every time I used it, I’d feel haunted.
What about you?
Heading Towards the Unexpected
What were your parents doing at your age?
I’m turning 64 this year. My parents are 2 years apart, so we’ll just use the same age range.
My mother was working for a nice local construction company where she had worked for many years. They were good to her. She got the job because she was good at what she did and they were our neighbors so they knew they could trust her. Outside of work, she spent a lot of time reading and she enjoyed going to tag sales on Saturdays with her sister in law Edna.
My dad was working for a local rehabilitation hospital in their Facilities Department as their painter/wall paperer which was his profession since he got out of the army in 1946. He really enjoyed working there because of all the people he got to see and my sister worked in the Occupational Therapy Department. He started golfing again when my sisters and I were in high school so he probably golfed sometime during the week and maybe weekends – I don’t really recall!
This was also the time that my mother had a ticking time bomb in her brain called a Glioblastoma Multiform weaving its way through the areas of her brain. Little did they know how different life would be towards the end of that 64th year.
Guess What Just Happened!!
You get some great, amazingly fantastic news. What’s the first thing you do?
For any good news, the first thing I would do would be to find my husband and tell him the great, amazingly fantastic news!
The second thing I would do, even though it’s not part of the question, is I would find my son and tell him the great news too!
Have You Sent XYZ to ABC Yet??
Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done.
I’m the worst when it comes to doing this for my husband. It always starts with the famous last words, “Oh honey I’ll take care of it!” In this case, it is photos I scanned to send to a friend.
3 weeks later… “No, I haven’t printed them yet. but I will.”
5 weeks later… “Oh! They came out really weird on the printer, so I sent them to Snapfish and I’ll pick them up at Walgreens”
7 weeks later… Picking them up at Walgreens. “Sorry not here! Do you have the email? Uh, this says CVS”. Oh crap .
9 weeks later… “I picked them up! I’ll send them out!”
12 weeks later… “uh, no I haven’t sent them out. In fact, I can’t remember where I put the ones I picked up.”
He says today, “I should have done it myself.” “Yes, maybe you should have”, I replied.
I could have shown him how to select, how to order, either pickup or have Snapfish send them directly to his house and moved on to something else on my To-Do List that never gets done!
We’re a Football Family!
What are your favorite sports to watch and play?
I grew up watching football on tv and in person at our town’s junior football league.
Later, I was running down the hill to the high school games on Saturdays in middle school and cheering them from the sidelines once I became a cheerleader in high school.
Pickup games were played on the practice field in the fall and there was a certain thrill in evading tackles or keeping someone from the ball while on defense.
Senior year I was a captain for defense on our Powder Puff football team. We had practice for 2 or three weeks before the big game against our cross town rivals on the day before Thanksgiving.
Our son played football for the same high school team I cheered for and once again I would head down the hill to watch the games.
My family has a 16 member Fantasy Football league which as me checking the predictions and watching Red Zone closely on Sundays!
Definitely football is my favorite sport!
Edoodless store! And a bit of a personal story 😉
Note: This is going to be a bit different than what I usually post. It’s a bit more about my childhood, which was quite turbulent. So there are some …
Edoodless store! And a bit of a personal story 😉
I follow this blog because I LOVE her illustrations! Please read her story here and visit the edoodles store if you want to look at and buy anything from it!
Keep the Good – Reverse the Bad
If you could un-invent something, what would it be?
There are so many Good/Bad inventions created since the beginning of time but the number one “invention” that should crawl back into the hole it came from is –
SOCIAL MEDIA
MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok – maybe they were created for socialization but they took a right turn into online bullying, scams, hacking, and keyboard assassinations. There are many other sites for socializing, some I know of, some I’d probably be shocked to learn about, but I’m only talking of the ones I really know.
It was probably “ok” and “manageable” prior to the 2016 election, but after that, all bets were off. I allowed myself to get caught up in Facebook arguments with friends who became non-friends. Funny, after 2020, they came back again. I’m afraid to see what this 2024 election will bring.
Do I use them? Yes, FaceBook and Instagram both personally and for my business. I have X and TikTok accounts but have posted only minimally on X.
I guess we can’t stop progress but I can dream!
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 