August 5th, 1977-In which we learn not all that glitters is a "thunder egg"

Woke up late this morning.  To my surprise, Petey was still asleep.  We had our cereal together for once (two bowls of Total, the cereal with everything added).  Pete put on his underpants when he got up, but nothing else, as it was hot again (tho a bit gray and cloudy, so cooler than yesterday(.  I took a bath and washed my hair, keeping it wrapped up in a towel which Petey thought was great fun to pull off.  I stayed in my bathrobe.  Pete and I listened to Beethoven, Strauss, Bacharack, The Limelighters, Father Sydney MacEwan, and The Folk Tradition".  We played cars, combining all Betty Phipps' cars and most of Petey's-about 90 small cars.  I had lunch, liverwurst sandwich, pickles, cheese, yogurt-but Pete ate nothing at all.  Today was his Methatrexate day.  I felt ambitious today so I used my (unknown word) Debut Lotion and astringent, tried a slightly modified hairdo and dressed four times before I was satisfied with the result (finally settled on purple pants, pink t-shirt, and pink and purple scarf).  Was glad I had bothered because the doorbell rang and Betty came with the laundry, looking beautiful-as always-in pale pink.  Nobody who hasn't been through it knows the sorrow of having a pretty sister.  We had coffee and Betty told me she'd brought home a kitten and Dad had said "Which is it going to be, me or the cat?"  On the other hand, Dad wants to keep the ewe and breed her for lambs again next year and Betty is sick of sheep...Thank God Petey and I are by ourselves (it was hard enough to try housekeeping for Mom when she was mobile-she was jealous of Pete, accused me of theft and ransacked our room for a credit card Betty had borrowed-I lost 18 pounds in 3 months).  Petey "napped from 3 till 4:15, waking up for "Sesame Street".  I lay down but didn't sleep.  He decided he'd get dressed after "his programs".  He thinks the people on TV can see him but nobody else in the audience.  We played "Weeble's Vacation"-he went camping in the airplane and with the other Weeble Richie gave him.  The airplane was stolen and returned by police.  The camp was haunted.  The camp and Weeble were stolen by "bad guys"...but they staunchly decided to camp for fifteen days.  Then Pete got dressed and we started out for a tricycle walk, but we met Betty Phipps in her yard and she invited us for a ride in their new car.  We accidentally went to Nyssa so we went to their "Thunder Egg Days" celebration, "rock hounds" with every conceivable item of rock jewelry, ornaments, cut, uncut, slabs, you name it, they had it.  I bought Pete 4 rocks (2 @ 1 cent ea. for children under 10) and a jade ring I'd wanted for years ($1.50).  Betty bought a George Wallace button for Bill and we ate (Pete had a burrito) at the A&W.  Got home just before the storm.  Pete slept with a flashlight.

Context & Perspective:
This is another case of "I guess I should have known" and what should constitute an "honest portrayal"/true accounting versus an inherit tendency to "white wash" our own pasts.  At the end of the day, it only makes sense that there would be some sibling rivalry between Mom (the oldest) and her sister Betty (the youngest of 3).  I don't think my Amazing wife would necessarily admit it, but I sense some of the same struggles in her (as the oldest of 3 sisters).  Wendi needn't worry, though, she's far and away the most beautiful-certainly in my eyes...but I digress.  The troubling passage here is the uncovering of my Grandmother's feelings and behavior towards Mom and I.  To be fair, this would have been a time in Grandma Alice's life that was filled with pain-perhaps in combination with some dementia-that would have clouded her perceptions and influenced her actions.  It doesn't make it any easier to read (or to share), but it's an important piece of the puzzle that reflects all the internal struggles of our lives-of Nancy's life in particular-even when the surface activities seem routine.  I should also note that, later in life, when Mom was struggling with her own mental illness, she leveled similar accusations of theft and betrayal against me.  Again, not an easy thing to reconcile or move past easily, but important in the understanding of how we build and resolve our sense of "self".

-PL