My mom started working basically when I started working after secretarial school. She loved it! Absolutely was excited to get out of bed in the morning, commute to the city and work all day, she even worked lots of overtime and loved that too. After raising not only her younger sister from a teen and then 7 children, the first thing she wants to do when my father worked light duty on the FDNY and Joey was old enough, Linda still in high school and getting home from school pretty much the same time to take care of him, she could watch him on days my father had to work. At that time he worked a 24 hr shift and then was off for 3 days, so he was mostly home with Joey and if he worked the weekend my mom was home. Man all I can think of is the day I can stop working and it's going to be a long time!!! Again, my mom also raised all of us, yes I watched my younger brother and sister, many times, but she still had to deal with every thing else tending to a family of that size. And that includes all you stay at home moms (and dads) it's the hardest job of all, although it must be the most rewarding, as an aunt, I am overwhelmed when I get loving back from my nieces and nephews even after some of the younger ones have given me a rough day! I know it's way way more as a parent.
My sister Linda wasn't exactly the best person to watch Joey on those afternoons before my mom or me got home from work when my dad was working his 24. Joey could get to Linda whereas I always thought he was the funniest thing since he was a baby. He drove me crazy with certain things, but I always ended up laughing. I came home from work one day and Linda is locked out of the house, Joey smiling at the window. (A little of my brother Michael in that smile!) I told Joey to open the door, he locked the screen door which Linda by this time has kicked in pretty bad. Joey was screaming through the glass that Linda was going to kill him, and I'm sure he had been driving her crazy. He opened the door and Linda was right after him, the two of them chasing each other through the house. Thankfully a bunch of my friends that came by to pick me up instead took Joey for a ride, they got a kick out of Joey and I had to calm Linda down before I could leave them alone together again. Of course Joey and Linda get along and love each other very much, they are 10 years apart and Joey was probably about 8 at the time he locked her out, and again just knew how to push her buttons, like my brother Michael knew how to do with me.
One night my mom was working overtime and I took a ride with my father to pick her up. There was a school across the street from her office building and a bunch of kids were coming out of the school and they were cursing up a storm, just being regular teenagers, talking the talk. My father turned around to me, I'm like 25 years old at the time and says, you don't curse. No question, just a statement. I was honest with him, and told him I did, not proud at all, just telling him the truth. He asked like what, what curses to you say, and I told him pretty much everything. He was shocked, he also said he never heard me curse and I told him, he never would. Now my father grew up on the lower east side of NYC, he had a colorful vocabulary and I had heard him curse many many times, but I also knew that it was not acceptable for me to do it. My mom didn't like it if I sad damn growing up or shoot. And I didn't use those words either.
But I do curse. I've slipped a few times over the years with the kids around but really not that much, it's just you wear different hats, not that you're phony, but you have to act different depending on the situation or who you're with. When you're young you don't realize it as much, I mean school teaches you that, but I've walked by schools and that's all I hear outside the school. I know these kids aren't cursing in school, but they come out of the building, get with their group and their conversations just include cursing. Unfortunately I know it's also accepted more in certain homes, my cousin Michele would always curse and I remember her cursing in front of my father, who was shocked that she would and told her to try and not use those words while talking to him. He cursed like I said, but it was usually in anger over something my brothers did, or if he got hurt working on something. Never at us, or in conversation. Wearing a different hat. I'm sure he used some colorful words hanging out at his firehouses when he was on full duty.
Yesterday one of my friends, Lisa S., after reading one of my blogs said I should tell a certain story. I told her I didn't think it was appropriate for the blog I'm trying to write.
I wear different hats, we all do. I'm not perfect. I can be mean, selfish, grumpy. I've done stupid things. I was a Jersey Shore girl and had lots of fun there. I partied but I wasn't anything like what is portrayed by the reality show "The Jersey Shore". I still wouldn't want to put all that out there, about me, or any of my friends. Not that they're secrets, my family and friends know my faults (my good points too) and lots more of my crazy stories, but again, the way I didn't curse in front of my parents when I was a young adult, I'm wearing a different hat on my blog, again not phony, I'm being honest and will continue to do so.
Here's some fun pictures from "down the Jersey Shore" our first summer, innocent silly fun, which basically was who we all were and yes there was some moments that it got a little too crazy, but that was an old hat, for me and my friends, in fact we all lost those hats.
This is me, so beautiful waking up from a night out "down the Shore", wearing my friend Joe's sneakers and the big foot with the little sneaker hanging on the toes is Joe wearing my sneaker. You can see an empty beer bottle in the window and a empty cup of soda or something on the floor. A little "animal house" looking. But so much fun!
This is Pat and Bob, Pat had a great sense of humor and could always take a joke, unfortunately she was often the brunt of all of them, especially from me!
Again, no lies, just a different hat.
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