In going through some of the boxes of water-soaked books in my storage locker, I found my childhood diary. My nickname was "Bitsy," as some of you may remember. Inside the cover are these words:
To Bitsy from Aunt Dot Xmas 1950
So my first entry was Monday, January 1, 1951. I was ten years old when I wrote this:
Wrote show "At Home." Put it on in the yard. Made 9c. I got 3c. Later we went to the picture show. Saw Hopalong Cassidy & Bud Abbott & Lou Costello in double feature.
Saw show at "Dixie" was added later above this first entry. That was a movie theater in Chattanooga in the 1950s. We lived in a neighborhood full of children, and it appears I had some helpers to put on the "show" that day. It also appears that we charged a penny each for the privilege of seeing us perform my little play, and I got a third of the money. So whatever "show" we did, I'd say it took three of us to do it.
Notice that I was a writer early on, not only writing in my diary, but I also wrote a play. And I was a musician, writing this on May 4, 1951, a week after turning eleven:
My first real concert. At the Memorial Auditorium. It was about the happiest moment of my life. I played the fluteophone with the big band. Saved program.
Ada Rentfro and I played clarinet duet, "Sisters," at E.S.'s Chili Supper! I changed words of song. Had planned to sing. Sore throats.
"E. S." would be East Side Junior High School, where we attended 7th, 8th, and 9th grades together.
Ada and I also sang "Sisters" on stage before our whole school that year, as I have mentioned before. For that performance, I played an accordian while we sang in front of our peers.
I'm still writing, but now I'm writing on a blog. A blog is a lot like a diary. I guess I should mention books and reading, huh?
The first day Georges (the S is silent) moves into a new Brooklyn apartment, he sees a sign taped to a door in the basement: SPY CLUB MEETING — TODAY! That’s how he meets his twelve-year-old neighbor Safer. He and Safer quickly become allies — and fellow spies. Their assignment was to track the mysterious Mr. X, who lives in the apartment upstairs. But as Safer’s requests become more and more demanding, Georges starts to wonder: how far is too far to go for your only friend?
This is the book I'll read next, after finishing Aunt Bessie Decides by Diana Xarissa (2014, cozy mystery, 238 pages), which I'm reading now. Both of these are books that were in my friend Donna's Kindle, which I "inherited" after she died last year.
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.
Bonnie, how fun is it that you found your childhood diary! It's almost like going back in time. I do think a blog is a lot like a diary. I wonder if you continued to keep physical diaries after this volume was complete, and I wonder if you still keep a physical diary, too.
ReplyDeleteI've often thought about what happens to the books on a Kindle after a person passes away. I didn't realize that you could leave a Kindle with your books to someone else. That's nice to know.
Liar and Spy by Stead is a good one. I loved "When You Reach Me" by her as well.
ReplyDeleteFinding old diaries is such fun. I kept diaries from age 12 through college and just before I got married, I read them all then shredded them. I had so much fun going through them.
Helen, I read When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead in 2010 and also wrote that it was excellent.
ReplyDeleteDeb, I wrote in this Five Year Diary only sporadically. I kept one for maybe a year in my teens, but I didn't see it in the storage boxes yet. No, the blog is my only "diary" these days. I can look back over 15+ years of blog posts at this point.
Deb, Donna didn't "leave me" her Kindle. When I was helping her sister clean out Donna's apartment, I asked if I could have it. She didn't want it, so now it's mine.