Why did I name my new blog
UNBECOMING? It's rooted in the depths of my childhood.
 |
| My great grandmother and me, circa 1950 |
My great grandmother, Nellie, was a tiny woman with a fierce Northern Baptist New England temperament. While my grandparents were traveling the world as vaudeville and theater actors, Nellie was left to raise my mother, who eventually ran away from home at 17 and married a jazz musician. (That marriage only lasted a few years until her parents returned and forced a divorce.)
 |
| Natalie "Sawyer" and Loring. Circa late 1920s |
Meema, as I called her, was always opinionated and never hesitated to let you know what she was thinking, which is probably why I don't remember my grandfather saying much when I would be at their home in Connecticut.
I was a typical child - curious, rambunctious and loud. Meema would corner me when my mother wasn't around and say, "Allison, this behavior is unbecoming of a young lady." I heard that a lot on those visits. It stuck with me through my teens and carried on to my working career, with a few exceptions that aren't usually discussed unless wine is involved - a lot of wine.
 |
| Mason and Nellie, circa late 1800s |
I recently started working on Ancestry.com and sorting through seemingly endless papers and photos left in my mother's files after she passed away nearly two years ago. I found it particularly odd that Mom saved all those things since she really wasn't crazy about her family, except for her mother who was a talented and worldly woman with a gift for discovering up-and-coming young artists and sculptors. In going through long-forgotten boxes, I not only found photos, but there was a small article in the local paper. It stated, in a circumspect tone, that apparently no one knew my grandfather, Mason, had married a young woman named Nellie a year earlier and they had a son, Loring, who was presented to the surprised family. The story was chronicled in the paper because Mason's father was a highly respected businessman and also mayor of the town.
Interesting. It seems my great grandmother was way ahead of her time. That explained a lot.
 |
Great Grandfather Mason, Great Grandmother Nellie and me -
circa 1955 |
Now that I'm retired, I'm realizing the impact those encounters in my great grandmother's kitchen had on how I viewed myself growing up, and how they colored my self image. It's too bad for Meema that she was not part of my more liberated college generation in the 60s. Things would have been much different - for her, and for me.
That being said, I'm glad it turned out the way it did, otherwise I wouldn't be here telling you this story about how I'm turning the tables on her after years of pretending to be a "proper" young lady.
Yeah, loved ya, Meema, but those days are over. I'm now proud to say that I'm occasionally inappropriate, and definitely working on UNBECOMING.
Welcome to my new blog that has nothing to do with skating, but more about navigating live. If you missed my first UNBECOMING blog, you can read it here: https://ateamontheedge.blogspot.com/2019/03/on-becoming-unbecoming.html
Comments
Post a Comment