I Know Where I'm Going? And I Know Where I've Been..

A Portrait of Me - at Six Years Old

Dear KJ posed three thought-provoking questions on her blog today and I decided to answer them here.


1. What was your childhood?
I had a good childhood - an only child, and yes, spoiled. My parents had a strong marriage - a first and only marriage for them. I was well educated - my Father taught me to read before I started school - and my love of books has never left me. He was an Air Force Pilot, then retired and became a small Antique Shop owner. Mum was a Flight Attendant. The downside to my early life..... I was alone a lot. My Father working, my Mum away for days on trips. I did have someone to bring me home from school - not a "nanny" - we were comfortable - not wealthy.... Being alone so much, I developed my own language, read a lot, and lived "inside my mind".... you can guess that I had a
vivid imagination. So much so, that the Nuns once called my Mum in to let her know they were concerned about my "grasp on reality". (She told them - politely - to "get stuffed" - there was nothing wrong with me.)



2. What did you want people to understand about you?
That I was more than just a "pretty face".... I had a brain, was intelligent - had opinions that were relevant. I was funny, had a good (if a bit dry) sense of humour. I was not "stuck up", just shy.



3. Who was on your bus?
My parents - first and foremost. My pets. Animals in general.... I seemed to form a bond with them at a young age. Nature. Father Andrew D. - a priest I knew since I was able to formulate thoughts and with whom I was able to have long (sometimes argumentative) conversations with about God, Religion, Mankind. He always "heard" me and made time for me. "King Arthur" - yes, I was absorbed in anything relating to him....poetry, literature, music. The author E.R. Eddison - a man who rivaled Tolkien in his "Zimiavian World" - four astonishingly beautiful books that affected my life at 15 - and
still do today when I reread them. Music.....often a friend to me when I was by myself.


It's been a good ride - mostly a smooth road - a few bumps here and there....until last year, when the bus crashed into a boulder and fell over the cliff. But, I am standing up, though bruised and cut....and I am walking down the road again, looking up at the lilac twilight sky - and seeing that first sparkling star next to the silver crescent moon. There is life...there is hope and somewhere out there...there is love.

♥ Robin ♥