I had this journal when I was 11-years-old... I'd written down things I liked at the time. Of course, music was mentioned. In fact, at that time, I was jammin' out to Kung Fu Fighting and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds... the Elton John version!
I also wrote about a trip I was getting ready to take with my Grandma Redmond. We were going to Detroit. I was going to attend my first wedding. I was SO excited! I'd gotten a new dress for the occasion and a cute little handbag to go with it. Oh, I had it goin' on!
So, my grandma didn't drive. Our trip to Detroit was going to be made by Greyhound Bus... which from where we lived was a good, long haul.
The only thing I really remember from the physical journey was changing buses in Fort Wayne. That and the fact we drove by the Old Crown bottling company. Old Crown was a local beer... and one my dad drank on really rare occasions. Funny and actually oh so incredibly ironic that at 11-years-old I'd pick a brewery as the landmark for my first on-the-road travel adventure.
Somehow (and I'm still a little fuzzy on all the details) we arrived at the church. I had learned a valuable lesson about myself on the bus ride to Detroit. A lesson I was about to share with my grandma. I get car-sick, although In this particular case, bus sick... REALLY bus sick!
By the time we are walking into the church, I am more than a little green around the gills. With the wedding now in full swing, Grandma and I were stuck in the lobby with no bathroom in sight. I could feel myself getting sicker and sicker (you know, like Mt. Vomit ready to erupt...) Before I could say a word, my Grandma grabbed my new cute little bag , yanked my gloves out of it, and held it up to my face.
That's right... I totally puked in my purse.
After doing my thing... and I'm really sorry to be so graphic here, my grandma must have been in a quandary as to what to do with the purse... And boy, I remember this like it was yesterday... She snapped that purse closed and without a moment's hesitation, placed it on the top of the coat rack in the lobby. She didn't bat an eye.
After that, we beat a hasty exit...
I didn't get to see the wedding. In fact, I didn't get to see much of the reception either. The next thing I remember was waking up in our hotel room as the reception was winding down. I groggily met the bride and groom... who were apparently somehow related to me.
I've often wondered over the years who the unlucky person was who opened that cute little purse left to sit forlornly at the top of the church coat rack and to say...
I am SO very sorry!!!
I offer these flowers in a gesture of goodwill!
These flowers are one of the first mixed media collages I tried. I like the bright colors... and you can't go wrong with Mardi Gras beads!
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