May Day

May Day is a tradition in Hawaii that involves hula and Hawaiian costume at school, and that means that the girls up their hair up in buns.

"I wish I had a second ear," Maia said tonight. "You know why I don't want to go to Hokulani for 5th grade?"

Kristina had already told me this.

"Because you have to do hula and you have to put your hair up."

"You're beautiful, Sweetheart."

"But I don't like it," she said of her ear.

"I know, Sweetie. But it doesn't look that bad, you know."

"What if people make fun?" she asked.

"Well, you just have to ignore them, Sweetie."

"But I don't like that," she said.

"I wish I had a second ear."

"I wish you did, too."

I let her be for a while.

"Life isn't always fair, Sweetie, and when it isn't, you just have to make the best of it and move on."

She made a face like she was going to cry, but it was a dramatic face, and I laughed a little.

She could have gone that way, though, and so I also consoled her a little.

Not easy for her to put this together.

John, Saturday, April 30, 2011

Mother talks about making paper dolls

I called Mother on the way to pick up Maia, today. I no longer had a clear idea of the paper dolls she had once described to me.

"Well, we cut out people from the Sears catalogue that we liked," she explained. "That was the new thing. But we didn't cut out the arms. We just cut out the heads and the bodies and the legs, and we glued them to cardboard so they'd stand up. The cardboard was just a bar at the shoulders. Then we'd cut out dresses from the catalogue with the arms, but not the heads or legs, and we'd hook 'em over the cardboard. That we had dolls that we could change and that would stand up."

"Did the three of you play?"

"Well, it was mainly me and June. Opal was 8 years years older than I was. June was only 5 years older, and she liked playing with dolls. We used Mama's sewing machine for houses. It had four drawers on each side. We'd empty'em out and they would be our condos. We'd each live in a condo."

"She used to get so aggravated," Mother said of them. "Children! Get those cuttings out of my sewing machine!" she'd say.

I asked again about the relative ages of the children.

"Bernard was 11 years older, Opal, 8, and June 5. And Harold was 7 years younger. Bernard was born in 1915."

"What happened after you left Newhall?"

"Well, June got married almost right away, and Opal went to nursing school after June got married."

"Did Bernard live with you?"

"Yes, he lived with us and paid part of the rent. He graduated from Big Creek High School and got a job in War at a restaurant when we moved there. We were only there for about two years--1936 and 1937, I think--and then we moved to Welch. He got a job managing a restaurant in Welch. And then when the war started in '41, he joined."

"Did you see much of him after Newhall?"

"Well, it was different. In Newhall, I was just a little kid--6 or 7. By the time we got to Welch, I was grown, and he treated me more like an adult. I got a job in the 5 and 10 when I was 15. He taught he chords on the guitar so he could tune his violin and play. I still remember those chords. And he used to look at my boyfriends, too, to see if he approved. But he worked at night, and I was gone to school during the day, so we didn't see that much of each other. But we were close."

Our conversation ended because I had arrived at school to pick up Maia.

John, Friday, April 29, 2011.

Maia asks if I'm okay

This evening we were at my sister-in-law Kalei's house because her older son is getting married on Saturday. It was a dinner after the wedding rehearsal.
At one point, Maia came up to me and asked me if I was sad.
"No," I said.
"Mad?"
"No," I said. "Just a little tired."
"Tell me if you're sad," she said. "I want you to be happy. Okay?" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
She is maturing so quickly.
There was a boy about 11 there. Maia had met him at a barbecue at Kalei's house on Wednesday. He makes her laugh, and she likes him. This picture is from the barbecue.
John, Friday, April 8, 2011.