Life On The Small Side
I have been thinking about doing this for
awhile and I am going to try this out. I have been living life on the “small
side” since birth and it has been an adventure. I am going to try and discuss
the good, the bad and the humorous things. There is never a dull moment, that
is for sure and you have to learn to “roll with the punches” as most anyone
does as it comes to life.
The first thing you learn is the world is
not gauged for anyone extra small or extra tall with each presenting special
challenges. When you are small, going to the grocery store can become
interesting. You walk in and start shopping pushing your cart along. Coming to
one of the needed items you notice things have been rearranged so what you need
is on the top shelf. Rats, now you have a choice to make since the “grabber”
for getting high things is conveniently (once again) sitting at home. The
choices are: asking a stranger to please reach the thing for you (which most of
the time people really don’t seem to mind if you ask politely), go get a store
employee to get it down (which can make you feel like you’re interrupting their
work) or the least favorable to step up on the lowest shelf and try to get it
yourself. Most of we older folks have been brought up to be fiercely
independent so it hurts to have to ask but physical realities overtake those
feelings and really it isn’t bad. It can often lead to teaching opportunities
about being a little different. But when push comes to shove you find a way to
get the job done.
A second thing which comes up is buying
appliances. Should seem simple enough but you still work at trying to make
things a little easier. One example is the clothes washer. A front loader
certainly makes the job easier to handle. Things get interesting when
attempting to get things out of the bottom of a top loading machine. Another is
the freezer. Opt for an upright rather than chest style. As a child there was a
fear of falling in and the top closing when reaching for things out of the
bottom. There was thankfulness each season when Mom and I finished freezing
fruits and vegetables for the year plus the packaged beef which came each fall
from the meat processor which filled the freezer to the top again. To get
things out of the bottom I would either pull up a chair to stand on and reach
or there was always jump and kind of hang off of my belly to get it (would you
believe that was painful?). Anyway, that was kind of a lesson in overcoming
fear because did I really want to tell Mom I wouldn’t do what she asked to get
the stuff out for supper or lunch? Nah, you didn’t tell Mom and Daddy no. Then
think about the stove. I started cooking dinner for the family when I was
eleven and Mom went back to work. Was I tall enough to reach the control knobs
on the back? Not really so being inventive came in again. I would pull a chair
up to the stove and start cooking. Not that the meals were anywhere near great
and I apologize for that, dear family. I was trying my best and learning at the
same time. At least something was ready to go on the table when Mom got home at
night. Thank goodness I have learned much in the intervening years and can put
out a pretty darn good meal
School was another place where life was
interesting. Particularly gym class where I did my best to try and keep up with
the others as my lack of height became more and more apparent as we got older.
I was actually fairly athletic growing up with two big brothers. They were both
three sport athletes in High School and did pretty well for themselves. Back in
our day there were few things for girls to do which were even remotely
athletic. How much this has changed. Cheerleading was the big thing. Marching
band was pretty good exercise, too. Yes, I survived marching band up until High
School when the director began to put pinwheels into our routines. If I was on
the inside I was fine as that took small steps. But on the outside was a whole
different ball of wax. I really had to work to stay with things (think faking
playing that clarinet and more about running). I ended up quitting band after
the first semester my freshman year for several reasons. I still loved
athletics and fondly remember playing ball with my brothers after the evening
milking was done. Even after taking a ball bat to the noggin (for obvious
reasons I don’t remember much) and it really was an accident, folks, the result
of which was not being able to see any direction but down for close to a month.
Another aside I found out later there actually
were folks in the community who thought my smallness was due to that incident,
wrong! There were many things which made school life, shall we say, very
interesting. Suffice it to say I was more than overjoyed when I could start
driving myself to school and not have to ride the bus. Teasing and other events
could be pretty much an everyday occurrence. In retrospect I brought some of it
on myself due to immaturity but some was really uncalled for and really left a
mark upon my mind. I was already very
unsure of myself for many reasons and this only added to it. High School
graduation couldn’t come quickly enough for me.
I really have to say I thank God my family
didn’t let me use my height as an excuse for things. It sure made me be
independent which isn’t all bad. I grew up in church and came to faith at about
age ten while watching a Billy Graham crusade on TV. There wasn’t anything
really dramatic which happened but things grew slowly through the years
learning more about the Bible and His way. He has provided some real
opportunities as time has gone on for some neat events in life but I’ll bring
this to a close for now.
