Full Transcript for A Glimpse

the house as an Army headquarters during the war. 00:03:10.810 --> 00:03:17.024 His home was directly across the street and we knew it as the mansion. 00:03:17.024 --> 00:03:24.895 Fond memories of running across the street, playing there as kids with our neighborhood friends. 00:03:24.895 --> 00:03:42.034 The mansion was glorious to behold, with large gray stones stacked three stories high, set back far enough to showcase a beautiful green grass front and a circular driveway. 00:03:42.034 --> 00:03:46.290 It also held our public library. 00:03:46.290 --> 00:03:54.433 During the summer months the village offered a summer recreation program at the mansion. 00:03:54.433 --> 00:04:06.653 During the winter, the huge backyard made the perfect ice skating rink for all the residents to enjoy, along with a decent-sized hill to go sledding. 00:04:06.653 --> 00:04:15.973 We didn't always have sleds but would drag an old piece of cardboard big enough to sit on and slide down. 00:04:15.973 --> 00:04:24.310 The older kids would make an ice ramp just before the bottom that would send you sailing into the air. 00:04:24.310 --> 00:04:31.625 Living in Brownville during the mid-60s to mid-70s was heavenly. 00:04:32.827 --> 00:04:38.100 My siblings and I were fortunate to start our youths in a neighborhood. 00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:45.851 The saying it takes a village to raise a child is exactly how we were raised. 00:04:45.851 --> 00:04:51.564 I was always barefoot, running out the door to play with my friends. 00:04:51.564 --> 00:05:02.487 Hide and seek, dodgeball, mother may I, hopscotch, jump rope and riding bikes were everyday pleasures. 00:05:02.487 --> 00:05:07.432 My dad was a lineman for the local electric company. 00:05:07.432 --> 00:05:14.108 As the years went by he was a dispatcher and retired from that same company. 00:05:14.108 --> 00:05:26.535 My mom was a secretary for a local propane gas company just one of many other full-time jobs she did to support our family. 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:41.928 Most of my vivid memories are with my siblings in the house, throw in a couple of my best childhood friends in the mix, and I had a wonderful start in my youth. 00:05:41.928 --> 00:05:50.464 However, my images of both my parents together are somehow lost. 00:05:50.464 --> 00:06:02.718 I have always wondered if that's because I focused only on my happy memories, overshadowing the sad ones. 00:06:02.718 --> 00:06:10.363 To be clear, I only have one specific memory that involved both my parents. 00:06:10.363 --> 00:06:15.788 They were members of the Brownville Legion, post-588. 00:06:15.788 --> 00:06:21.622 My dad served four years as a mechanic in the Air Force before marrying my mom. 00:06:21.622 --> 00:06:25.560 She was very active with the ladies' auxiliary. 00:06:25.560 --> 00:06:30.742 My sisters and I were also part of the junior auxiliary. 00:06:30.742 --> 00:06:35.380 One particular night Mom attended her ladies' meeting. 00:06:35.380 --> 00:06:37.637 Dad

was home with us kids. 00:06:38.550 --> 00:06:47.966 I was around six years old and I was upstairs collecting empty glass 16-ounce Pepsi bottles from my brother's rooms. 00:06:47.966 --> 00:06:55.617 I was going to return the bottles to the general store down our street to buy penny candy. 00:06:55.617 --> 00:07:01.591 I was playing dress-up and slipped on a pair of mom's high heels. 00:07:01.591 --> 00:07:19.836 Being only six, I thought I could just simply walk down our wooden staircase holding two six-packs of empty Pepsi glass bottles with those high-heeled shoes on without a problem. 00:07:19.836 --> 00:07:35.860 I clearly remember landing on my face, my body flat on the floor and hearing the clanking of those bottles, some ahead of me and others behind me screaming at the pain my left arm felt. 00:07:35.860 --> 00:07:40.601 My dad heard me and came to my aid. 00:07:40.601 --> 00:07:48.144 At first he thought I was going to be okay, there was no blood and I could walk. 00:07:48.144 --> 00:07:53.185 But it was supper time and he insisted I try to eat. 00:07:53.185 --> 00:08:02.809 I was left-handed and when he realized I couldn't pick up my fork he knew I must have broken my arm. 00:08:02.809 --> 00:08:13.093 He took me to the emergency room and sure enough I did. 00:08:13.093 --> 00:08:14.855 The doctor set my arm in a cast and we drove back. 00:08:14.855 --> 00:08:32.673 There were no cell phones in the 70s to alert my mom and I don't remember if he called the Legion from the hospital, but I specifically remember Dad pulling up to the front door of the Legion. 00:08:32.673 --> 00:08:36.719 I got out and ran into Mom's arms. 00:08:36.719 --> 00:08:43.692 She looked shocked and was crying seeing me in a cast. 00:08:45.395 --> 00:08:52.571 The only other vivid memory of my dad in our house was dad giving my sisters and me a bath. 00:08:52.571 --> 00:08:55.714 It was a tender, gentle moment. 00:08:55.714 --> 00:09:02.101 What was significant to me was what I remembered him saying. 00:09:02.101 --> 00:09:05.605 " I guess you are clean, julie. 00:09:05.605 --> 00:09:09.792 This is the color of your skin. 00:09:09.792 --> 00:09:14.857 You see, my siblings all have blue eyes, same as our parents. 00:09:14.857 --> 00:09:20.304 I have brown eyes and dark brown hair, almost black. 00:09:20.304 --> 00:09:35.778 My brothers have various shades of brown hair and my sisters are blonde, and so was my mom dad too, before he lost most of it as he aged. 00:09:35.778 --> 00:09:43.474 I stood out as being different compared to my siblings, especially compared to my sisters. 00:09:43.474 --> 00:09:48.982 My skin tone was olive and theirs was fair. 00:09:48.982 --> 00:10:01.043 It was so noticeable that my older brothers would tease me and say I was either adopted or mom and dad found me on the side of the road. 00:10:01.043 --> 00:10:08.019 It was always said harmlessly, but it always stuck with me as a kid. 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:19.115 My Uncle Bob, my mom's only sibling, who was younger than her, along with my siblings, would call me the Guinea. 00:10:19.115 --> 00:10:26.120 Now, at that time, I had no understanding what a guinea was. 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:29.504 The other nickname was Wop. 00:10:29.504 --> 00:10:36.890 All I knew was I had the nicknames as far back as I can remember. 00:10:36.890 --> 00:10:44.732 It kind of made me mad sometimes and other times it made me feel special. 00:10:44.732 --> 00:10:53.294 As I got older I realized those names were offensive to the Italian-Americans. 00:10:53.294 --> 00:11:00.447 I looked into the origin of those slang words very recently. 00:11:00.447 --> 00:11:13.490 I found Guinea comes from Guinea Negro and originally referred to any black or any person of mixed ancestry. 00:11:13.490 --> 00:11:18.719 This dates back to the 1740s. 00:11:18.719 --> 00:11:32.312 By the 1890s it was being applied to Italians, almost certainly because they tend to have darker skin than Anglo-Saxons or Germans. 00:11:32.312 --> 00:11:44.991 By 1911, the term began being applied to Hispanics, although the reference to Italians is the most common. 00:11:46.515 --> 00:11:58.779 The only two people in my immediate family who never called me the guinea or the wop were my parents, at least not that I can recall. 00:11:58.779 --> 00:12:13.432 As I grew into an adult, married, raised two children, my mom started to really take offense to my family who were still calling me those nicknames. 00:12:13.432 --> 00:12:25.434 My youngest sister shared with me an incident that happened one evening during a get-together with some of my siblings and our mom for dinner. 00:12:25.434 --> 00:12:31.807 Someone at the table, the family went to a local restaurant, mentioned my name. 00:12:31.807 --> 00:12:37.043 I wasn't there for the gathering, I was living in Connecticut at the time. 00:12:37.043 --> 00:12:41.525 Just brought my name up and called me the Guinea. 00:12:41.525 --> 00:12:49.668 Mom was so mad that she made a big deal about it and caused a little scene. 00:12:49.668 --> 00:12:57.369 My sister was flabbergasted and decided to actually get up and leave the restaurant. 00:13:09.940 --> 00:13:20.109 That was a pivotal moment where my mom told my siblings that she did not want to hear anyone refer to me as the guinea or the wop, and how much it offended her and was disrespectful to me. 00:13:20.109 --> 00:13:25.599 It will be five years this October that I met Joe, my biological father. 00:13:25.599 --> 00:13:30.869 I am still very grateful to have connected with him. 00:13:30.869 --> 00:13:37.763 It was the missing puzzle piece that has eluded me for most of my life. 00:13:37.763 --> 00:13:43.071 I believe in embracing true gratitude. 00:13:43.071 --> 00:13:47.743 It has been the gift that keeps giving to me. 00:13:47.743 --> 00:14:07.341 In a world that is filled with chaos, conflicts, wars and unspeakable tragedies, I believe when we realize we can only control ourselves, we will live a more peaceful life. 00:14:07.341 --> 00:14:22.690 I recently put a quote on my refrigerator as a reminder - "In life, the only two things you can control are your effort and your attitude. 00:14:22.690 --> 00:14:27.163 Everything else is not up to you. 00:14:27.163 --> 00:14:29.148 End quote. 00:14:30.375 --> 00:14:42.211 I looked up who the writer is Sylvester McNutt, a best-selling author, podcaster, public speaker, course creator and father. 00:14:42.211 --> 00:14:50.817 I'll share a hyperlink in my show notes if you would like to read more about this insightful, wise young man. 00:14:50.817 --> 00:15:09.288 By surrounding yourself with positive, like-minded people who you choose to be part of your life, will always attract more peace, gratitude and love. 00:15:09.288 --> 00:15:25.268 The views and opinions expressed by Nearest And Dearest Podcast are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Nearest And Dearest Podcast. 00:15:25.268 --> 00:15:32.062 Any content provided by Julie Rogers or any other authors are of their opinion. 00:15:32.062 --> 00:15:42.167 They are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything. 00:15:42.167 --> 00:15:43.409 Thank you.