Through The Looking Glass...

I was always the kid who sat in the back
of the classroom according to last name.
Problem was I never could read what was
written on the chalkboard.

Sister would scribble math examples on
the board which looked like hieroglyphics
to me. Forget reading the homework assignments.
It used to drive the nuns nuts...

Every night I called my best friend, Gloria
to get the homework, which drove her
nuts after awhile.

After a couple of years of squinting like
a weasel and pulling at the corners of my
eyes to see anything, I had my eyes checked.
Yep, just as I had thought in my 10 year old brain--
I was blind as a bat.
Nearsighted, to be exact.

Not only was I skinny and the tallest girl in my
class, but also the Girl Who Wore Blue
Rhinestone-embellished Glasses.
The lenses were so strong and thick
that they gave the appearance that my
eyes were pinched together, like a goldfish's.
Achhh….

Nothing much has changed since then.
I’m still 5’8”--haven’t shrunk a millimeter,
and my wire frames are parked on my nose.
I don’t look like a goldfish, though.
The lenses now make my eyes appear
slightly larger, which is good.

The only difference now, because I’m older
and living in a high UV state, I need
cataract surgery in a couple of months.
I should be able to see much better than I do now,
which is like seeing the world in 3-D.
I’d be a great asset working at Pixar…

Busting Out...

When I was 13, my family moved from Santa Monica
to a new home in the San Fernando Valley.
I still wanted to attend Saint Monica's High School with my friends.
Every morning I commuted with my dad to Santa Monica.
Dad dropped me off at Gran's at 6:00 a.m., where I caught a bus for school.
Gran would be up, waiting for me.
Occasionally, she bestowed little 'pearls' of advice to me:
“Nancy, don't ever dress like a tramp...”

Me?
Dress like a tramp?
How could I?
Roll up my green plaid uniform skirt until my knees were showing?
Every morning we were made to kneel before school began—to make sure our skirts were touching the floor.
Wear makeup?
The nuns made sure all of the girls looked like wallpaper paste.
Makeup was forbidden, though I knew some girls cleverly disguised the fact.

After 2 years, I transferred to a public school in the Valley
for my junior and senior years.
I'd had enough of 5:30 risings.
Gran was really worried then.
I'm sure she thought I was going to hell in a hand basket...

I cut up my uniform with intense joy!
The baggy, white gym shorts were shredded.
Mom bought me a few dresses, blouses and skirts.
I replaced my suede buck shoes with pumps.
I lingered in the cosmetics department of our
drugstore, buying my first tube of lipstick, mascara,
and blush.
I felt emancipated.
I'd peeled back the veneer of years of stringent policies,
revealing my authentic self.

My personality bloomed, all in a good way.
It felt great.

Grandma worried over nothing.
Just look at me now...