Happy Birthday Sherry!
Sherry was still on crutches when she came to live with me in my first apartment in Quincy. It was the early 70’s, a time when the flower child innocence of the 60’s was just beginning to sour. But we were still innocent and because we worked in a factory together, we call this period in our lives our “Laverne and Shirley Days”– after the popular sitcom with Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams whose characters also worked in a factory. ~ From Setting the Bone and the Record Straight, “The Jim and Dan Stories.”
Today is my sister Sherry’s birthday. Not only has she played a prominent role in my life – we shared the same bedroom as girls and then lived together in our first apartment – her support and enthusiasm for my writing was instrumental in the manifestation of my first book “The Jim and Dan Stories,” about growing up together in the 50 – 70s, and then losing two brothers in 2001. Sherry is a reoccurring character in the book as the below excerpt “Some Things Don’t Change All That Much” illustrates.
“Dear Abby, How can I get rid of freckles?” was my first published piece, written sometime during my pre-teen years. But my interest in writing really started several years later in the bedroom I shared with Sherry when I read her my first attempts at poetry. We also used makeshift microphones to sing along with the Bob Dylan songs playing on our green hi-fi stereo. Bob Dylan’s lyrics woke me up to language more than anything in school ever did.
As teenagers, our bedrooms were our sanctuaries, places we could make our own. I covered the floral print wallpaper I had outgrown with purple tissue paper from the boutique I worked at in Boston. I pasted cut-out characters from “A Yellow Submarine” and “Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club” on it.
Jim and Dan were in the room across from us playing Jim’s record albums, “The Doors,” “The Kinks,” or maybe “The Four Tops.” Their room never changed all that much; it wasn’t as creative as ours was. Jim’s weather gauges hung on the wall, along with a BB gun rack and some sports team pennants. Their bunk beds were in the corner across from the large wide bureau, the one that Dan and Sherry tried to sleep in once.
They were supposed to be in their beds asleep when Dan got his bright idea. They took out all the clothes and put in pillows and blankets. It would be fun, Dan told Sherry, like camping. Dan, who was seven then, promised Sherry, who was five, that he wouldn’t shut the drawer on her. He got her settled in and then climbed in himself in the drawer just above hers. They weren’t in there long when the whole thing fell forward, crashing down with the sound of an explosion, which brought my dad upstairs in a hurry. The whole time Dan was facing my father’s wrath, he was trying to tell him that Sherry was still in the drawer. Dan was worried about Sherry because he promised he wouldn’t shut the drawer, and he knew she was afraid of the dark.
We made collages for Jim and Dan’s wakes from photographs taken of them over the years. In most of the pictures, Dan was holding a baby or had his arm around a niece or nephew. We knew the grown-up Dan loved kids, but what really surprised us were the pictures of Dan when he was younger. In almost every one, he had his arm around an even younger brother or sister. In one telling photo, Dan, who was maybe three, was sitting next to my mother on the porch with his arm stretched out touching the baby (Sherry) on her lap. He had a big grin on his face.
Dan was a lover and a champion of the lesser. And Sherry was always enthusiastic about my poems. It occurred to me recently how she’s playing that role again. I’ve been emailing each story to her as I finish, and she has been urging me to go on.
Some things don’t change all that much. It’s ironic how we spend so many years trying to grow up, only to become who we already are.
Photo: Visiting our parents for Christmas in 1971 when Sherry and I lived together in Quincy, Massachusetts. This was during the time we both worked together in a factory, before she went on to become a nurse and I became a day-care teacher. Happy Birthday, Sherry! I love you.
October 28th, 2005 9:42 am
You guys look so cute. I think this was the year Bobby and I woke up the entire house at about 4:00 in the morning! I was 8. It may also have been the year I fell asleep on Jimmy and you got that classic photo of us. Love you.
October 28th, 2005 9:49 am
It was the same year I took the famous photo of you and Jim. The first year I had my own camera!
October 28th, 2005 11:04 am
Michele sent me, but I’ve been here before. And somehow lost track of you. What a silly fool I’ve been.
You’re writing is luminous.
October 28th, 2005 11:10 am
Michele sent me, too, and I’m so glad! Your writing is beautiful and I love that picture. I find myself wishing I had funny/great stories like these with my sibs and the kind of relationship you have with your sister. You’re inspiring and I will certainly be back to read more. Wonderful blog!
October 28th, 2005 11:31 am
I think I was born a decade or two too late. All that music was the same that I listened to, but I was retro. And like you, the lyrics were a tremendous factor in my poetry. I always tell my students now that they love poetry, they just don’t know it–every time they turn on the radio, they’re seeking it out.
October 28th, 2005 11:49 am
Happy Birthday to your sissy!! Furry hugs!! I will come back tomorrow to meet my new friend!!
October 28th, 2005 12:49 pm
What a neat story! That was so sweet about trying to save her from the dresser! I hope she has a wonderful birthday. 🙂
Sometime, when you’re not so stressed out, I’d like to hear more about the parent-run co-operative school you mentioned on my blog. I am always interested in how parents can put things together for their kids. Don’t worry about it now, though, I know you have a lot on your plate.
October 28th, 2005 12:58 pm
Happy Birthday Sweet Sherry!! I hope you hit the jackpot today:) *hugs*
October 28th, 2005 1:52 pm
That’s a great picture! Happy Birthday to your sister. That’s a great story!
October 28th, 2005 3:26 pm
hippy birdday to ya Sher.
October 28th, 2005 3:33 pm
I love reading your stories..
Thanks for your comments.. Yes I was gone for a time. I did make 2 posts on my blog on October 2nd and the 15th. I was hit by Hurricane Rita so its been tough to get on. We are still in recovery mode..
October 28th, 2005 4:00 pm
This is a great story, Colleen. Happy birthday to Sherry!
October 28th, 2005 9:55 pm
Wonderful post. Michelle sent me. Please, if you are going to stop by my site, wait until a different evening. My post for today is so far on the opposite end of luminous it isn’t even funny.
October 28th, 2005 10:04 pm
OMG…..I am honored to be on presented on YOUR blog!!!
I love you too!! Thanks for honoring me and making me feel SPECIAL!! You have a knack for that.
xoxo I can’t wait to see you. xoxo
October 28th, 2005 10:40 pm
Oh wow, Floyd. I didn’t realize that you were right next door. I love Floyd, such a pretty little town with a surprising amount of diversity. My wife and I used to eat at The Pine Tavern when we were dating. She lived in Blacksburg, VA at the time. I am originally from the county next door, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge. I’ve had tickets to Floydfest for the past two years but haven’t been able to make it. Maybe next summer. Sorry for the “don’t look” post, but thanks for stopping by. I’ll definitely have to bookmark your site now, I probably would have anyway.
October 29th, 2005 10:38 pm
Happy belated birthday, Sherry! Wonderful photo and story — nodding at that last line.
October 30th, 2005 7:40 am
Loved this post and the wonderful story inside it!
Happy belated birthday to Sherry!
April 27th, 2011 10:54 pm
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