Standing on tiptoe,
my eyes search
the dark recesses
of the closet…
There it is.
I reach up,
slide the box
off the shelf,
and crouch down,
before gently placing the box
on the floor
in front of me.
Cautiously,
I peel back the cardboard flaps,
apprehensive
of what I will find.
Peering at the contents,
I carefully reach in
and pull out…
A pale violet Easter dress,
with lacy white cap sleeves and neckline-
just one of many dresses
sewn for me by my mom.
A red hoppity horse,
the source of giggles and gales of laughter,
as I watched my Aunt LaVerne
hop her way
around an obstacle course of trees
at my birthday party.
A bunny shaped birthday cake,
covered in white and pink flaked coconut,
adorned with red licorice whiskers
and black jelly bean eyes,
shared with my kindergarten friends.
Dollar bills
carefully folded
and placed in my ‘flower girl’ hand,
after dancing polkas
at my sister Sue's wedding.
Whispers of "Goodnight, 'Bug-a-Boo'" and
"Sleep tight, 'Pootsie Pie'”,
as my mom and dad
tucked me into bed at night.
Ears of roasted corn
dunked in a coffee can
filled with melted butter.
A pig with an apple in its mouth,
and stuffed with sauerkraut,
roasting over a spit.
Peanut butter and jelly pudgie pies
cooked over a campfire.
Pixie Sticks, Tootsie Rolls, and Dots
purchased from the Evergreen Campsite store.
Sand castles
with moats
and drawbridges
crafted of twigs.
A mud pie concocted from layers of wet sand,
pine needles
and leaves,
and sprinkled with white ‘sugar’ sand.
A backwards fall into the fire pit
while delivering the pie.
Grandma’s ‘molly’asses cookies
dunked in my special cup of ‘coffee’.
A small, ceramic fawn figurine,
with a ‘broken’ neck (repaired by my grandpa with super glue),
the result of an unfortunate collision with a sparkly super ball.
Carrots carefully pulled from the earth,
rinsed by the garden hose,
and munched on
while sitting on the steps of my grandparents' house.
Pounding on the cottage door
in the middle of the night.
A long car ride home,
and my grandpa’s funeral.
“Picture Rock”
where I modeled my bikini,
and every new dress received
for my 4th birthday.
Pink foam curlers
wound and clipped
in my stick straight, brown hair.
Miniature cakes
baked by the light bulb
in my Easy Bake oven.
Four kittens and a momma cat
mewing in the hollowed out base
of an old oak tree
outside my bedroom window
one rainy summer day.
A fort built in the tree line
of a farmer's field
near my house.
Twigs tossed in the creek,
and disappearing in the culvert
under the road.
Backyard sleepovers in tents
(and sometimes under the stars)
with Jenny, Angie, Jill, and Jolene.
Night games
of ‘Kick the Can’ and ‘Sardines’
with the neighborhood kids.
Day games of kickball,
trees used as bases.
A lime-green,
one-speed,
banana seat bike
pedaled up the big Fairview Road 'hill’ on the way to school.
A King Arthur puppet
with a painted clay head,
and robe fashioned from scraps of baby blue silk,
and emblazoned with a navy felt ‘A’.
Duso the dolphin
leading my 4th grade class in song
(‘Hey Duso! Come out to play!’).
Snow forts built at recess,
jeans soaked by melting snow
(‘cuz in 6th grade snow pants were so not cool).
Games of kickball
on the Clayton School playground,
and crawling over the fence
to retrieve the red rubber ball
from the farmer’s pasture
before the cows would take notice.
A school spelling bee won
with the word ‘liable’.
And a city spelling bee missed
due to the death of a great aunt.
Matching pajamas worn at slumber parties,
cheerleader formations…
all captured on film.
A record player spinning Shaun Cassidy’s ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’
over
and over
and over again
until every word was known by heart.
After hour Baskin Robbin’s parties…
staying up all night.
Weekends at the cottage,
building cities in the sand,
teaching friends how to dive off the dock,
and rowing to the island to play castaway.
Suddenly…
I am aware
of the lump in my throat
and the tears in my eyes,
and the smile on my face.
Carefully I pack each memory
back into the box,
grateful for the gift
of the childhood I had.
Karen Hovie
2017
Karen Hovie Writes 