Heartaches

The word Heartaches"

reminded me of my friend Myrna who I stay with when I travel back and forth to San Diego. She lives just off the freeway in a beautiful home in Manhattan Beach. This song

"Heartaches" was one of her favorites in high school when she was going through a heartbreak romance. She also loved "My Blue Heaven". Funny how songs remind you of people and places. Here she is with Eddie, a neighbor in Glendive, at our 2000 high school reunion. They were not a romantic couple but were the best jitter buggers in our high school!

Myrna had to work from an early age in Kaplan's, the dress shop next to our store Anderson's, so she missed out on a lot of the after school happenings. She was such a great clerk because she is a people person and took an interest in all of their customers. Myrna is such a people person that she had and still has friends of every age. She is everyone's best friend, with a very compassionate heart and kindness for all. She has a fantastic memory and knows all about each of us. We all think she is our best friend... and she is!

Myrna had some heartbreaking moments in her life but persevered over all. Unfortunately the "love of her life" passed away in 1993 and they did not have enough years but she was so happy those years together in Manhattan Beach. Now she lives alone with a daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters near and two stepsons and their wives and two grandsons a little further away.

Myrna had the smallest waist of all of us. We made these ballernina skirts that were a full circle and so fun to dance in. Myrna's mother worked but I remember her being so fun to be around, always laughing and joking. Myrna and her mother made this fabulous boiled white frosting and chocolate cake and the best divinity. Myrna is still a great chef today and it is always a pleasure to eat whatever she is dishing up. My favorite outing with Myrna at her church was Easter Sunrise Service and then to the basement of the church for scrambled eggs, sausage, hot cross buns and orange juice and then we would go wake up our Catholic friends...Even though we had our own church in our home on Sunday nights, I went to the Methodist Church with Myrna. Her aunt was our Sunday School teacher when we were in grade school.

A really fun adventure in junior high was to travel by open truck (We were all in the back--against the law today) all the way from Glendive across Montana to Livingston for a Church Camp.

It was really fun--here we are discussing the weighty things of the world, Raine, Myrna, Myself and Eddie. On the way back to Glendive the back of my jeans came unsewed and so I tied my fringe jacket around my waist and said I was too hot to wear it--actually it was freezing in the open truck.

We also joined LTL (Loyal Temperance League) and signed our names that we would not smoke or drink. I was probably one of the few who never did.

Favorite Clothes

This is a little indulgent, but then blogging is indulgent. I wanted to remember my favorite clothes through the years--and many I can remember only in my mind--no pictures that is. For instance what I was wearing when I had the first important kiss at 16--a grey A line skirt with a tight waistband and a tucked in peasant blouse and red espadrille shoes. I can see it like it was yesterday.

I was thinking that all my favorite clothes had been red but maybe not--the only two I remember about in grade school was this red plaid, wool dress and my red plaid skirt with straps. I liked this dress very much but wished I had silky long stockings instead of those awful brown cotten ones...ugh. We had to change our dresses right after school as we wore them many times before they were washed...

These dresses were probably all Gay Gibson brand. They fit me so well and cost about $19.95 a piece and we carried them at my Dad's clothing store. The white pique was my high school graduation dress. I really thought it was perfect. The brown velvet was a big favorite along with a two piece purple corduroy. There was also a brown corduroy two piece I liked really well. So much for having red clothes as my favorites.

And this dress-- I loved the neckline and the way it fit. It was a rich light two shaded woven material they don't make dresses out of today, at least in my price range-- too expensive now--there was even cording around the neck and sleeves.

We always wore dresses and skirts and sweaters to class in high school and college. I had only one angora sweater with socks to match--that was a status symbol almost. But I did have several jantzen sweaters that had pictures and words knitted in them--one specifically I liked had music notes all through it and yes, it was red. Sweater and skirts were such a fun thing to wear with sox to match, if possible with those polished saddle shoes. But my favorite shoe was the mocassin. Dad did not like us to wear them as they had no support in them. I had a favorite leather fringe jacket and a lookalike Navy Pea Coat--loved them both.

This formal dress is hard to see but it was a fuschia and full skirted soft net with tight bodice--I am the one looking at Ivan peeking around my shoulder--in the middle. I liked this dress for the color, and fit, plus it was soft and flowing...Another dress that was a real favorite when I was dating Ivan was a red knit suit--ooo, it was neat... can see it well.

This squaw dress was made by my roommate Marta's mother. I loved it. She made one for all of us!!--so fun to swing in--we didn't square dance in college though--only high school...but it was fun to wear.

This coat was so soft with sleeves that snugged in a little at the wrist and this lovely fur collar. Unfortunately I wore the front out by carrying books all the time. Loved that coat--

I also wore navy blue quite often and this was a great dress that fit snugly around the waist and had a soft flowing skirt--so 50s... made out of blue crepe, hardly wrinkled at all... always ready for church or...

I also had a grey that was fitted and A line with a high collar--it was also a favorite of mine but have no picture. I wore grey and blue more than I remembered...

This was my kind of outfit (John, from church with me)--a wool skirt I made to match a favorite sweater. This one was grey, again--I had thought all my favorite clothes were red, but not so... we wore full slips under these skirts to make them stand out a little. Had lots of cotten skirts like this that I made...

Ah, just remembered a red dress was what I was wearing when someone brought Bill to a church dance and he asked me out again--(we had a disastrous first date)--it was a silky soft taffeta type material that was fitted to the hips and then flaired out. I made that, too. I wonder, did it really look that good (I thought that was why he asked me out). But it might have been because I was feeling good about myself and so I was outgoing and friendly instead of skulking in the shadows. Oh, well, it was red and I loved that dress. Am I superficial or what...

Just remembered another favorite dress I was wearing when I met Richard--funny how we remember what we were wearing at important moments of our life--at least I do. It was a silk floral with wrap around waist bands--very classy--and I made it, also. I can't believe I was such a seamstress in those days. It was a Vogue pattern, I remember. Anyway, my friend Norma had set us both up for a blind date and neither of us was interested--until we saw each other. Except for the first week when I had some dates with former friends, we were together and married six weeks later. Must have looked good in that dress, ha. It wasn't red, either.

Carla

Today my childhood friend Carla called--(Carla is her stage name, she was on the Perry Como show, played the lead in "Fantasticks", was Miss Montana, Homecoming Queen in High School, Child Prodigy, pianist, violinist, singer, A student)--In other words she did it all and I was a best friend.

Here, she is the smiling one in the center, I think it was a birthday party for her--I am the gloomy one on the right (I don't know what that was about). Anyway we had a wonderful childhood. There was a canyon by her house with lots of tall growth. We would play "Nyoka of the Jungle." She had a terrific imagination and I loved to follow her lead. We also would put on our rubber boots and crossed from the creek to an island on the river and searched for treasure (agates). We called it Poco Moco Loco Island as I recall. One day her brother followed us and that was the end of that. We were evidently walking through raw sewage. We would hike out to the badlands and Sugarloaf (a magical clay mound perfect for climbing up to and sitting in and eating lunch). Just don't be there when it rains--slippery, slippery. In high school we were the first Freshman to get our big D--attained through all kinds of athletic feats like biking 75 miles, 200 sit ups, 10 push ups, etc. We would have my brother drive us out of town so we knew how many miles it was and then bike back. With her imagination she would also make up stories to submit to magazines like "Confessions" or "True Love" or something and enthrall us with her articles.

In high school, our boyfriends were best buds so we double dated. One of the most funny to me was chasing a pig through town. I drove while the boys chased and I followed them down alleys and such. We had a lot of fun, needless to say. As I have said before, we had a magical childhood and teenage years. Oh yes, Carla was also a star in all the high school plays. As I say, she could do it all. I was a terrific audience but what else, I am not sure, a better driver I think. She would scare me to death as she would turn and talk to us in the back seat as she drove. As children, we even donned our best and attended the Community Concerts together. I used to have the autographs of famous violinists and pianists I had never heard of.

After her Broadway and TV years she was a music teacher at a private school and then a stockbroker on Wall Street and I was a school teacher, then a homemaker and then a mortgage broker in San Diego. She had her doctorate and did very well in the financial business. A regular whiz kid in anything she tried.

Now we are both old and she is in the city of New York or vacationing in Hilton Head and I live the simple life in the mountains. Amazing how two such different individuals can be best friends. But that is how life should be, isn't it?

Tanner was 5 1/2 When Linda Sent This Poem

 This is such a cute poem, I hope she shows it to show Tanner someday when he is very distinguished!

He is about 5 1/2 when this was sent.