The Book of Me, Written by You - Prompt 12 - The Year I Was Born

Health issues seemed to have subsided for now. I still have ongoing testing to try to determine what was going on. Also, I do have upcoming surgery (January) that is totally unrelated to the issues I was having in October.

In the meantime, I'm once again trying to get back to blogging, researching, getting ready for Christmas, etc.

Since I've been struggling on the blog writing front, I've decided to start participating in Julie Goucher's activity, The Book of Me, Written by You.

Even though I'll still be a few prompts behind, I decided to start with - Prompt 12, The Year You Were Born.

What Happened

Historical

Films

Music

Books

Television

Or use any other historical (well known or otherwise) event

I'm a child of the early 1960's. There were many major historical and cultural events that occurred during the first decade of my life. I often felt like I was born after my time because there were many things I would have loved to participated in but of course was too young. Even if I had been older, I doubt that my parents would have let me any way.

The following is a list of noted events and people during the 60s.

Politics and Civil Rights

Presidential Politics

John F. Kennedy sworn in as 35th President - 1961

Lyndon B. Johnson sworn in as 36th and 37th President - 1963, 1965

Richard Nixon sworn in as 38th President - 1969

Other Political 

Adam Clayton Powell becomes Chairmen of House Education and Labor Committee - 1961

Robert Weaver appointed to head up HUD - 1966

Thurgood Marshall appointed to the Supreme Court - 1967

Cal Stokes elected Mayor of Cleveland - 1967

Shirley Chisholm elected to House of Representatives - 1968

Howard Lee elected Mayor of Chapel Hill - 1969 

Civil Rights

Greensboro, NC Sit-Ins begin - 1960

Civil Rights Act - 1964, 1968

Voting Rights Act - 1965

Miscegenation Laws Struck Down in Loving v. Virginia - 1967

Assassinations / Murders

Medgar Evers - 1963

Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Denise McNair - 1963

John F. Kennedy - 1963

Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman - 1964

Malcom X - 1965

Martin Luther King - 1968

Bobby Kennedy - 1968

Samual Hammond, Delano Middleton, Henry Smith - 1968

Cultural, Sports, Etc.

Style

Afro

Blue Jeans

Mini Skirt

Dashikis

Music

Otis Redding

Aretha Franklin

Wilson Pickett

Sam Cooke

The Shirelles

The Drifters

Ray Charles

Marvin Gaye

Ben E. King

Stevie Wonder

The Temptations

The Supremes

Sports

Hank Aaron

Wilma Rudolph

John Carlos

Tommy Smith

Clarence "Big House" Gaines

Jim Brown

Gayle Sayers

Bobby Bell

Cassius Clay / Muhammad Ali

Sonny Liston

Arthur Ashe

Oscar Robertson

Bill Russell

Wilt Chamberlain

Earl "The Pearl" Monroe

Willis Reed

Literature, Movies, Art
The Fire Next Time
To Kill a Mockingbird

The Amen Corner
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
To Sir With Love
In the Heat of the Night
Lillies of the Field

Julia
The Sammy Davis Jr. Show
The Mod Squad

Romare Bearden

Other
Kwanzaa Celebration begins - 1966

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy, Week 33 - Nicknames

Week 33: Nicknames. What was your childhood nickname, and what was the meaning behind it? You can also discuss the nicknames of other family members, both past and present.

This challenge runs from Saturday, August 13, 2011 through Friday, August 19, 2011.

My mother was a stickler that no child of her's would have a nickname. Momma hated and still hates nicknames. In spite of her best efforts to keep the nickname demons away, I still managed to acquire a couple of nicknames. Both were given to me by my maternal aunts.

The first of the nicknames  was Maybelline, given to me by my Aunt Frances. I acquired the nickname due to my long eyelashes. Aunt Frances used to always tell me that I would never need to wear mascara.

The second nickname, Chitty, was given to me by Aunt Lucille. Chitty come from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. After having seen the movie when it came to my hometown, my mother made me a dress based on the character Jenmima.. From then on,  when when ever Aunt Lucille saw me, she began calling me Chitty

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy, Week 11 - Illness and Injury

Week 11: Illness and Injury. Describe your childhood illnesses or injuries. Who took care of you? Did you recuperate in your own bed, on the couch in front of the television, or somewhere else?

This challenge runs from Saturday, March 12, 2011 through Friday, March 18, 2011.

I was rarely ever sick as a child. I never had any of the usual childhood diseases for my era. You read that right, no chickenpox, no measles, and no mumps. Even when mom thought I had finally contracted chickenpox or measles in junior high, it turned out not to be the case. To this day, I've not experienced the delight of those childhood diseases, and I definitely don't want to experience them at this point in my life.

While I rarely ever got sick, whenever I did it tended to be weird stuff. First there was the aforementioned time that mom thought I had the measles or chickenpox. That episode was one of the few times I got to stay home from school due to illness. You see as only the second generation that really had a chance for education and with both of my parents being teachers, I didn't get to stay home for any and every little thing and I have the perfect attendance awards to prove it.

Back to the suspected measles or chickenpox. After two days of being home and feeling like my head was going to explode with every move I made, mom finally hauled me off to the doctor. The verdict was we don't know what it is but it's definitely not the measles or chickenpox. In college, I would have a similar episode minus the pounding headache and again, it wasn't measles, chicken pox, or the shingles, which my best friend and roommate thought it was. Years later I learned since I had never had chicken pox, there was no way it could have been shingles.

What other strange things have happened? Constipation. Yes, that's another you read that right. Constipation in an of itself isn't terribly bad except in my case, I had two episodes in my young life (elementary school) that if the folks hadn't called the doctor, I probably wouldn't be here now to tell you about them. The first episode was the worst. None of the usual remedies (enemas, laxatives, prune juice, Castor Oil) worked. The main thing I remember is being in my bed for days, not wanting to eat, and whenever I did it would just come right back up. After about two days of this, my parents were worried and for some reason I remember dad being more worried than mom. My doctor basically lived at the end of our street and came almost as soon as mom called. Without being graphic, let's just say that the blockage was removed with my doctor's assistance. He told my folks that it was a good thing they called when they did and that none of the usual things would have ever worked. After my second near fatal episode, I was sent to the hospital for x-rays to see if there was anything wrong. My doctor told the folks there was nothing wrong and that I was just being lazy. How dare he? Anyway just in case (I think my doctor was already tired of removing the blockages), I was put on a prescription for the problem for the remainder of elementary school years after which I never endured another episode of near fatal constipation. As added precaution, mom also made sure I had a tablespoon of Castor Oil each morning as well as a glass of prune juice each day.

Outside of my usual bouts with colds and the accompanying bronchitis, which I still have to deal with, there were no other serious illnesses that I remember from my childhood.

As far as injuries, I had the usual dings and scrapes that come with being a child but nothing like broken bones. I think the worst was when I jammed my thumb when daddy was trying to teach me how to roller skate.

So there you have it, an almost idealistic childhood from an illness and injury standpoint.

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52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy is hosted by Geneabloggers and was created by Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History - Week 5, Favorite Food

Week 5: Favorite Food. What was your favorite food from childhood? If it was homemade, who made it? What was in this dish, and why was it your favorite? What is your favorite dish now?

This challenge runs from Saturday, January 29, 2011 through Friday, February 4, 2011.


One of my favorite foods is an Almond Joy candy bar. The Almond Joy candy bar was one of my mom's favorite candy bars / snacks, which is how it became one of mine. It was always a special treat that mom bought for the two of us at the end of a long day of running errands, etc. What was and still is so special about Almond Joy was the fact that it was like getting two candy bars in one, so I got a candy bar and mom got a candy bar, too. They were just the right size for having a special treat that wouldn't "spoil my dinner." The other thing that made it so special was the bond it helped forge between me and my mother. To this day, Almond Joy is still probably our favorite candy bar.

The picture of the Almond Joy candy was obtained from the Hershey website.

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52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy is hosted by Geneabloggers and was created by Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog.