CATCHING UP ON DIARY ENTRIES

Guess what I've been forgetting to do!!?? Posting my diary entries from 1962!

The last one I posted was July 8, 1962. If you recall it read like this:

Dear Diary, we ate dinner with Elbert and Ella today.

Well, here it is in 2008, and it's July 28. So, I have quite a bit of catching up to do. Here goes.

Monday July 9, 1962: Dear Diary, I went to band today. Mother and Daddy went to Opp. Me and Mary Ann stayed with Ella.

Tuesday July 10, 1962: Dear Diary, I'm spending the night with Elaine Mason tonight.

Wednesday July 11, 1962: Dear Diary, Mary Ann and I stayed with Ella today while Mother and Daddy went to Troy.

Thursday July 12, 1962: Dear Diary, I went to town today.

Friday July 13, 1962: Dear Diary, I played with Rachel today.

Saturday July 14, 1962: Dear Diary, today is my birthday. I got $7.50, sunglasses, slippers, play phone, duster.

Sunday July 15, 1962: Dear Diary, I went to the show today. State Fair was on.

Monday July 16, 1962: Dear Diary, I went to band today.

Tuesday July 17, 1962: Dear Diary, Daddy made us a tent today.

Wednesday July 18, 1962: Dear Diary, I went with Daddy to mow the football field. Was it ever hot!

Thursday July 19, 1962: Dear Diary, I didn't have band today because of the younger group.

Friday July 20, 1962: Dear Diary, Today are majorette tryouts. Sally Oswald and Ann Campbell got majorette.

Saturday July 21, 1962: Dear Diary, I'm getting ready for Camp Grandview today.

Sunday July 22, 1962: Dear Diary, Today I arrived at camp. I'm really excited.

Monday July 23, 1962: Dear Diary, I took tennis today. It was burning up!

Tuesday July 24, 1962: Dear Diary, Tonight is Christmas Eve. We're having Christmas in July.

Wednesday July 25, 1962: Dear Diary, I rode a horse today. He trotted.

Thursday July 26, 1962: Dear Diary, I'm crying because I miss my family.

Friday July 27, 1962: Dear Diary, Tonight we sung by a campfire.

Saturday July 28, 1962: Dear Diary, Mother, Daddy and Mary Ann came for me today. I got a Camp Grandview shirt.

That catches me up. Camp Grandview. I was NOT happy there. My closest friend at the time, Marilyn Mason, and I planned that camp experience the entire previous school year. It all started the summer before, when my sister went to Blue Lake Camp in Andalusia, AL. That was a very popular Methodist Camp. I just had to go to camp. And then "THE PARENT TRAP" with Haley Mills came out. Marilyn and I saw that movie together (only if you'll notice in my diary, I referred to a movie as "the show" - we actually called it "the picture show") Another friend, Susan Price, had gone to Camp Grandview in Montgomery. She went for 2 weeks straight! It was considered a little more "upper crust" than just a "church camp". So - Marilyn and I presented our case to our parents. We wanted to go to Camp Grandview sooooooo badly. It was $35.00 per week. That means Susan's parents had spent $70.00 for her to go! Beyond my imagination. Marilyn and I begged and figured and talked camp all year. I even had the comic book, a thick one, based on the movie, "The Parent Trap". I read it till it was beyond dogeared. Mom and Dad did say yes. Marilyn's parents said yes. We went. I hated it! I don't know that Marilyn disliked it as much as I did. She said she did, but I don't think so. I was miserable. It doesn't read like that in my diary. I only alluded to it once. Worst case of homesickness in the history of little girls going to camp. I was rather private about it. I cried in my bunk and counted the days (5) until I saw my family again. I can still see that green and white ford rounding that curved road to my cabin. Best day of my life. Well, one of the best days. I remember all those days, vividly, which I wrote about in my diary. The horseback riding. Didn't like that. I was scared of the horses. I had daydreamed about those moments. Did not live up to my dreams! I even had real cowgirl boots, borrowed from a neighbor. I looked ridiculous. The instructor called me boots. The tennis? I was not good at it. Could not get the hang of it, and it was so hot. I liked swimming, except that we had to have alcohol drops in our ears. Left a weird taste in my throat. The event I looked forward to the most and enjoyed was "arts and crafts". Naturally. Oh - and the Christmas in July? That was the worst. Made me even more homesick. The idea of being at Camp Grandview during Christmas was a nightmare. We had all the decorations and music. It felt like Christmas!! Only so hot. One counselor was very kind to me. I still remember that she was from Jackson, AL. She was so kind and gracious and merciful. The other? It's not a Christlike word that I would use to describe her. But then the word is in my heart. Oops! I didn't even know about that word at age 11. She must not have liked being a counselor. I guess it was just a summer job. NOT NICE! But I survived. I returned home to my paradise on Williams Ave. in Evergreen, AL - to the safety of my parents - ahhhhhh. Home. To my little room, shared with my sister, in our twin beds with no headboards. Just twin beds. A chest of drawers. A chair, I think. Curtains that blew, when we usually had the windows up. Barbie Dolls to play with. Only one, actually. Not the thousands that my girls ended up owning. Friends on the street. Cousins in town. Friends across town. Happy Life.

I did go to camp again. It was the summer after the eighth grade. Marilyn Mason, Ruth Gowder and I went to Blue Lake in Andalusia - the Methodist Church Camp. We loved it. I was older. It was delightful. Best memories.

Oh, and Stephanie C., if you're reading this post, thank you for your sweet comment regarding my last post. Thank you for your prayers. I did survive yesterday's dose of antibiotic. Plan to do that whole routine again this afternoon - and will see Dr. Bradford tomorrow. My kidney - it's like my new pet.