The things you learn about your parents

While going through papers I stumbled upon this little gem. It appeared to be written by one of my dad's co-workers and implied that he found my parents engaging in a little "hankie pankie" in the men's room at work. (My mom was a stenographer in the secretarial pool in the office where my dad was an accountant).

I laughed when I saw it. Could it be? Mom was so proper. Then again, dad did like to give hugs. At my dad's memorial one of his former co-workers stopped by. I asked him: "Bill, is this a joke? Or is it true?"

He looked at it, laughed, and said "This paper is a joke, because "Larry O" didn't write this, but the story about catching your parents is probably true."

I'll never know if he was telling the truth or just giving me a funny memory of my parents - but I'll be forever grateful for the levity he brought to the day. Reading that "joke" paper still makes me smile.

A sign of great taste: The WWF Album

I came across my old record collection and along with the Michael Jackson's Thriller and Lionel Richie vinyl, I found this gem: The Wrestling Album." Note that despite being full of singers from WWF (World Wrestling Federation), there's no clear endorsement on the jacket other than on the microphone covers.

Perhaps even the WWF didn't want to be associated with the vocals of men like Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Hulk Hogan, or The Junkyard Dog. Yes, I'm embarassed that I can remember their names, but as you already know I'm one classy girl with amazing taste in music :-)

Another early work by Lori Helms: Grade 6

I don't know what made me snicker more:

a) My 6th grade poem in the Community Arts Day booklet OR
b) The fact that my 6th grade teacher's name was Mr. Hickey

Childish humor aside, here is my poem. Apparently no title was necessary.

Kind of jumpy.
Australia native.
Nighttime animal.
Gray and red fur.
A long tail.
Ready to hop.
Often shy.
Observe him.
Sitting silently.

The End.

What IS that?

While cleaning out the kitchen cabinets I discovered this wooden donkey. It was clearly handmade, and I knew SOMETHING was supposed to happen when you pulled the donkey's moveable ear, but I couldn't figure it out. My brother was also baffled, but we agreed that we couldn't throw it out.

It was on the counter at my dad's memorial when my Aunt walked up and said "Oh - I see you found Aunt Florence's cigarette dispenser." Aha! I jumped on the opportunity to learn more about it. Apparently you put cigarettes in the donkey's pack and when you pull on his ear, one shoots out of it's butt underneath the tail. Definitely classy. Definitely a classic. Definitely not trash.

I walked around the house with my Aunt, asking her to tell the stories behind other "UFOs" (Unidentifiable family objects). I wish my parents had been able to take that walk with me, but Aunt Joan was a great substitute.

The end of a book.

One of my mom's old friends said it best. "I feel like I just finished reading a book...."

It's hard to describe the feelings you go through after both parents have passed away. Over the past few weeks I've felt overwhelmed, emptiness, sadness, shock and happiness - but through it all I've had a sense of determination to get by, by being pragmatic and trying to maintain a sense of humor. My mom was a strong woman - and I wanted to live by her example.

Because my dad died unexpectedly, we had lots to do beyond the typical paperwork. We had to deal with a house full of 42 years of memories (and a healthy amount of junk), and an apartment to empty - despite just moving my dad in 3 weeks prior.

We had a dumpster delivered and with the help of 3 friends, filled it with junk from the basement in just 3 hours! Did you know my dad collected bicycle parts? We threw away at least 10 bicyle frames and numerous rusted handlebars, wheels and tires. We also found work training manuals from the 60s, phone bills from the 70s, and at least 6 coffee pots. :-)

Once the clear junk was removed, we had a second dumpster delivered and brought everything up from the basement and into the garage.

While the sorting was tough, we had a lot of fun reliving memories, and over the next several blog posts, I'll be sharing some of the finds we found interesting. Some are personal, some are amusing, and some are downright bizarre - but I hope you'll get a laugh or a smile from them like we did.

Run Holly! Run!!

The beach in Carmel is also dog friendly, and leash-free canines ran with glee up and down the sand, chasing seagulls, balls, and handfulls of sand (nice one Brett). Holly was a salty sticky mess by the end of the afternoon, but she didn't seem to mind one bit.

Diggity Dog

No, this photo isn't a picture of some fabulous bakery for humans. It's a display of dog treats at Diggity Dog in Carmel. The staff are experts at getting humans to part with their money by creating anthropomorphic displays of treats for dogs that look like something a human would enjoy. I must confess that Holly enjoyed a strawberry canoli and a calamari ring or two.