Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Looking back.....

Well, since today is my birthday, I got in the mood to look back a bit at my life.....when I was in 9th grade the English class I was in had to write an autobiography, complete with photos and family history. Somehow it has survived all my moves and travels and I had fun looking at it today. We had to type each chapter and bind it into a "real" book. My mother taught bookbinding and helped me sew it together and make the covers with some nice Japanese paper she had in her art room. I did little water color decorations for each chapter and the title page. For Christmas that year my father bought me one of those red Royal portable typewriters so I could type my book. I remember it was difficult at the time....being a procrastinator....but somehow I managed to finish it by the end of the year. Now it's fun to have because I'm sure that I would have forgotten a bunch of stuff that I wrote about. The school pictures make me laugh, and some of the family photos make me sad...only my older brother and I are left....and I still miss my mother with her great smile, who died while I was in high school.
The title page...
Kindergarten through 4th grade school photos....I'm pretty sure I cut my own bangs for that first photo!
Larry (professor at Portland State), me, my mother, and brother John...
My mother signed me up for ballet and tap dancing when I was 5! This was taken when we lived in Hermosa Beach.
This chapter was full of weird random things that I remembered from my childhood....

3 comments:

debinsf said...

What a great thing to have. I bet your son will cherish it in years to come, as well...

Happy, Happy birthday!

Syd said...

I love the photos! Your mom had a great smile. Your brother looks the same now...

Rabbit Hill Creations said...

What a wonderful keepsake to have. Now that you mention bangs...I think I cut my own too, or maybe the chopped crooked look was the fashion back then...lol.