I was going to write about something else this week, but since this coming Saturday, September 5 (the day this post will be sent out), is a big birthday for me, I thought I would write about that.
I don’t have to tell you how old I am; you can probably find it somewhere on the Internet. Suffice it to say, I didn’t think I would make it this far, and I am grateful every day. In fact, lately whenever I look forward to a future time, I stop myself and realize I need to appreciate every minute of every day.
My financial advisor once told me that they estimate your longevity by averaging your parents’ lifespans. I told him to average my grandmothers’ instead! My mother and father both lived to only about 76 or 77. My maternal grandfather was only 63, and my paternal grandfather was somewhere in his early 70s, I think. But my maternal grandmother lived until 90, completely coherent; and my paternal grandmother passed away at about 95, also mentally there.
I was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts, and we moved to Lynn, Massachusetts, when I was about two. I swear I heard my father’s voice before I was born, but the first memory I have is sitting outside on our leather living room chair the day we moved to Lynn as the movers were taking things into the house. We were always renters and lived on the first floor of a three-story house. The landlord was Mr. Williams. I remember when the oil truck would come to deliver the heating oil, and the big lilac bush outside the living room window. I still love the smell of lilacs. I had a tiny, messy pink bedroom and a best friend who lived down the street with the same birthday as mine.
We played “dock” in the puddles in my yard (which looked a lot larger back then; I have been back to see the house and the yard is small and the house much more rickety that it was even back then) using clothespins as boats. We had a clothesline, and my friend had a party line (look that one up!)
Back then kindergarten wasn’t part of the public school system and therefore was not required, so I went to the Jewish Community Center kindergarten. The Episcopalian rectory was at the corner of my street and the minister’s son also went there because his father wanted him to be exposed to all kinds of people. That boy was probably my first crush (and my friend’s as well) because he was handsome even at age 6. Oh, at the other end of the street, about three doors from my house was a penny candy store, I think called Marie’s. We spend a lot of time there — when pe4nny candy was a penny!
I did well in elementary school, but was absent a lot because I was sick a lot, probably because of bad tonsils. I do remember failing one history test because I had been absent, but it shocked me nonetheless; I think I was the only one who failed. There were only 5 questions, and I got only 2 or 3 correct.
I was very, very shy and never uttered a word. In fourth grade, Miss Louise gave me the lead in the fourth grade play because she knew I could do it. I am grateful to this day and will never forget her. She was right. Danny Liffman was my costar as the bookworm. I was Betty.
At the end of 6th grade, I won the coveted Clara Frasier award with three other 6th graders, one of whom is my friend still (or again), one has passed away, and one is a Facebook friend. They are still up North. The award was for scholarship, citizenship, leadership, and something else. I still have the award, which was a dictionary.
Junior high was sixth, seventh, and eight grades. I was a nerd with not much of a social life. I did manage to have a date to the ninth grade prom. We are still in touch, or in touch again, I should say. He is also up North, but we have seen each other. I got excellent grades, but didn’t do much else at school except study.
I did have lots of extracurricular activities outside school, starting in elementary school, because of a mother who wanted to help my shyness and who enjoyed the arts, I guess. I began dance class and then private lessons when I was around 6. I got pretty good at jazz and particularly tap and became part of a traveling troupe. I assume we performed at places like nursing homes. I remember I was part of the kick line. It was run by Ken Gray, whose daughter was eventually in the Miss America Pageant: Cindy Gray. I can’t remember what I did yesterday, but I can remember these details! I also took some drama lessons with some other kids at someone’s home. I forget her name, but I remember a blind girl named Linda in the class. It was in another town. Dancing school was too. It was in Alice MacDonald’s garage in Saugus. And I began taking piano lessons when I was about 12, classical piano from Miss Ambrose. I would practice right before my lesson and somehow get by. I took lessons through high school – six years in total.
My love of the arts began when I was about six. I wrote a Christmas musical called Babes in Toyland for me and my friends to perform for our mothers in my house. I think there were three of us. Something happened, and I got mad and stormed off.
I also wrote poetry when I was in elementary school. But when I began junior high school I was already heavily into pop music. I got my transistor radio (a beige Motorola with a round speaker in the front), which was always glued to my ear. I actually remember the DJ lineup for the entire day on WMEX 1510, the station I listened to all the time. I bought lots of 45s (look that up too) and albums. And of course, I had the teen idols of the time plastered on my bedroom wall. My best friend and I used to pretend they were our brothers: She liked Fabian the best. I liked Paul Anka. There were lots more.
I don’t remember exactly when I started to write songs but it was sometime around the beginning of junior high. In July of 1965 I found my muses, a popular singing group I became obsessed with. That is probably when I began writing songs in ernest. I probably wrote over 100 songs, mostly lyrics, but most of them had melodies that were in my head. Some melodies I wrote down since I could read and write music. One was actually just music, and I have it and have been playing it recently. My current songwriting partner made a more sophisticated sheet music version of it. By the way, the obsession lasted to — right now. And they are still performing.
I continued to get good grades in junior high and my social life was still “slow.”
High school continued much the same: grades 10, 11, and 12. I was college prep and took four years of Latin, calculus, advanced English. I took a bunch of French, but never learned to speak more than a sentence. Latin was my favorite subject, and I was really good at it — because it was taught from grammar, not spoken. And I was always good in grammar. Surprise!
No proms. My senior prom date, who was in college, backed out. He had an excuse, but my mother said he just didn’t want to go. Yeah, that’s how my youth was! I did have several dates with him, but never dated anyone else in high school.
When I was little, I guess I wanted to be a teacher, But then, later on, I had other ambitions. My high school yearbook says I wanted to be a songwriter. I also sent away to acting schools, although I had not been in any plays since that one in 4th grade. And I wrote to the Peace Corps too. I look back and wish I had learned an instrument besides piano so I could have been in the band. I did play piano to accompany the junior high glee club in eight grade, but usually Andrew Arvenitis was the pianist.
And I graduated from high school 3rd in my class of about 425 with a few good scholarships. Then I made my first mistake.
Well, I am getting a little bored writing about myself. I hope you weren’t bored! I guess this is going to be a two parter! To be continued–
Adulthood: College and beyond
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