Diana had moved three times
in the last four years. It’s true that moving homes on a yearly basis was part
of her life as a child, which was mostly due to her father’s job. The first
time her family relocated was from Toronto to Ann Arbor, Michigan. After that,
she regularly changed schools and met new kids knowing that it was only for a
short time. Grades one to six were the most difficult years. She would begin to
feel comfortable with her classmates and teacher, and then be pulled out to attend
yet another school in a different city with her parents and older sisters. One residence
was an apartment over a store, another a flat in a home, or an entire house if
they were lucky. The choice of lodging depended on the job her father had at
the time, plus how much money he was making.
Her mother
and older sisters always seemed upset with the constant moves, but Diana was
the youngest and didn’t look at her life the same way. Each move was a new
adventure, another chance to get it right, or as the character Anne proclaimed
in the novel, Anne of Green Gables, “Isn’t it nice to think
that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” After all, Diana
did learn to be flexible and to become a creative thinker as a consequence of
these frequent moves.
On her first day
of entrance to yet another school, she might have to write a geography test or
a math quiz or produce an art project out of blue and white tiles. Flexibility
came with the territory of constant moves. She remembered one particular change
in address, which was an apartment over a tailor’s shop. She loved staring into
the store window to admire the beautiful suits made from materials ranging from
checkered wool patterns to sleek black silk textiles.
Each morning the owner,
an older white-haired gentleman, would open up his shop, turn on the radio, and
then make coffee that smelled wonderful as it seeped up through his ceiling
into their apartment. After his morning chores, he began his ritual of
expelling guttural sounds like a moose in heat. Her mother called it
“kvetching.” Not knowing what that meant, Diana decided it was just plain
“gross.”
One of the best moves ever was when her parents settled them in a
black ranch-style house in a new subdivision. The house was situated right in
the middle of an H-pattern with all other homes spreading out from it. The
subdivision was newly built, so very few homes had a finished basement. One
day, all residents in the area received an alert about a potential tornado. As luck would have it, Diana’s house was the
only one with a finished basement big enough to house all the other families
who were invited to come over and wait out the bad weather. Women and children
meekly stepped down into the basement like they were told, while the men and some
boys remained in the backyard to watch the impending weather event.
Even though
Diana was only six years old, she felt that this division was unfair, so she
quietly walked up the narrow basement stairs and placed herself strategically
behind the small group of males. In this way, she could watch the tornado pass
by. It was tremendously exciting. The black funnel turned round and round while
it bounced back and forth across the darkened sky. All the men crossed their
arms over their chests and muttered words like, “Amazing! Pretty exciting! Hope
it doesn’t touch down!”
Suddenly,
Diana’s father looked behind him to find her raptly eyeing the whirling dervish
above them. “Get back down stairs!” he yelled. So much for fairness, she thought.
Diana was, and still is, all about fairness. She never understood why one
gender received privileges, while the other did not. She felt the same about
most prejudice whether it was about age, education, or race. Why couldn’t people
treat each other respectfully and fairly? Accordingly, everyone would learn about
our world, feel open and connected to each other. These thoughts and values probably came about
as a result of her many moves; she certainly learned a lot by watching and
listening to the many acquaintances she had met along the way. Why not learn as
much as possible before moving on to the next destination, right? A no brainer, she thought.
These
recent moves were alike, yet not similar to all of her childhood ones. This
time she was compelled to move in search of a home where she would feel
content, plus one that she could afford on her own. No longer part of a couple,
Diana hoped to discover a place that was neither too small, nor too big, but
rather just right. As Goldilocks, she
searched for her own place to call home. Was this a fruitless goal? Perhaps, it
was, but one that she would continue to pursue.
Each time Diana moved on, she
would find an object to help her get through the next expedition and hopefully inspire
her to remain positive. She recalled the summer when she was six years old; her
Bible class teacher gave her a sticker with a purple rocket ship to heaven
stencilled on it. That old sticker nudged Diana’s memory to the time she
attended church as a young girl. Her obstinate
father had ordered her to go to church; she could choose between a Catholic
church, as mother was a lapsed Catholic, or a Baptist church, as her father was
a lapsed Baptist. She decided to attend Baptist Churches in the various cities the
family moved from and to between the ages of six to eleven years.
Why the
Baptist church? She loved the way the congregation sang enthusiastically, which
gave her permission to belt out each and every hymn. Even though her older sisters
sometimes found church tedious or frightening, Diana thought it was glorious,
plus she got to sit in the front pew and received candies to munch on during
the entire service.
A day
finally came when it was time for her to quit going to church. She remembered how
brusque her father’s manner could be, as a consequence of his military
background, and she also knew how difficult it was to crack through that armour.
He was, however, a logical man who had told her that she could quit going to
church if she had a good reason, and after she had read the Bible. During the
summer of fifth grade, she had achieved both of those qualifications.
Meanwhile, some other kids decided that everyone should have a square dance.
Not a rave. Not a drinking party. Not a smoking party. It was only a square
dance. Her austere Bible teacher, however, told them all that they were not
allowed to dance, so Diana had a meeting with her father to inform him that
after six years of reading the Bible, going to Baptist Summer Schools, and
receiving a rocket ship to heaven, she was ready to stop. Her dad asked her for
the cause of this decision, to which she replied “You know how Jesus made friends
with all sorts of people? How he accepted them? How they hung out together and had
fun? Well, I think that Jesus would have gone to the square dance and he would
have had a good time. Don’t you think so?”
That
may have been the first time Diana had ever seen her father smile. He may even have
laughed a little. His reply was short
and sweet. “Yes. I think you’re right.
Jesus would have gone to the dance, so you can go, too. You can also stop going
to church if you want.” Hallelujah! she thought. Some people do change.
So now Diana found herself once more on the move, three times in four years. She still wanted to find an object as a souvenir that might help her get by. One that could symbolize this next part of her life’s journey, and conceivably help her with the difficult changes that she needed to make. She wandered to and from shops in Toronto until she found one bursting with all sorts of curiosities. Inside, she saw a life-size crystal skull staring at her from its perch on a mirrored shelf. Next to it was a small cloth purse with the words “Welcome the Extraordinary” embellished on it. She walked around the corner; a small round mirror covered with stencilled arrows caught her eye. It hung on a narrow wall with the white markers pointing the way to the comment “Show them how good you are.”
So now Diana found herself once more on the move, three times in four years. She still wanted to find an object as a souvenir that might help her get by. One that could symbolize this next part of her life’s journey, and conceivably help her with the difficult changes that she needed to make. She wandered to and from shops in Toronto until she found one bursting with all sorts of curiosities. Inside, she saw a life-size crystal skull staring at her from its perch on a mirrored shelf. Next to it was a small cloth purse with the words “Welcome the Extraordinary” embellished on it. She walked around the corner; a small round mirror covered with stencilled arrows caught her eye. It hung on a narrow wall with the white markers pointing the way to the comment “Show them how good you are.”
Although interesting, none of these items were quite
what she wanted. Then she saw it – a
winged pig. This chubby short-legged white piglet had perfectly rounded ears,
an oval nose, and a sweet little smile. Its tiny eyes greeted her cheerfully and
a circular bun for a tail just waited to be touched. Its body felt cool and
smooth as Diana’s hands gently brushed over it. And what wings it possessed! They
were small, feathered, and spirited. Ready for flight. But wait, Diana thought: How could this little
pig possibly think that it could fly?
Then the
realization hit her. Flight could be
accomplished in countless ways and in many different places. The methods could
be endless. Begin to fly in short bursts, at a slow or fast pace, and over any
preferred period of time. Slow and easy could get you flying, or moving forward
full tilt boogie could be an advantage. Could Toronto, Paris, and San Francisco await
her presence? Maybe or maybe not, but
this is what dreaming and taking off was all about. What a perfect object for
this part of her continuing odyssey. If pigs thought they could fly, then Diana
certainly could, too. She just had to choose a method and which way to go.
Donna Leigh White is passionate about animals, people, and learning of all
kinds. She works as a private tutor, life coach, and counselor in her own
business in Guelph, Ontario. Donna loves working with clients in person and
remotely. Although she is used to writing articles and essays, she is always
eager to learn about different creative writing styles. She is glad that she
signed up for Brian’s class. Visit Donna online here: www.dlwhitelifecoachandtutor.com
See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Algonquin
Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Georgetown, Guelph,
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