death

I thought that you died when someone took your picture, that you were somehow frozen, flattened out and hung on the wall.... My parents had arranged for a formal portrait of me and my sister -- I couldn't imagine why they were doing such a thing, and I was very sad and scared. The photographer came to the house, set up his lights and things, took the shot, and... I was still there! What a relief!

I used to believe that if you squeezed your fist very,very tightly you could not be stung by bees. Worked! Didn't work for wasps and hornets.

I used to believe…

When I was 4 years old my grandfather died--we did not go to the funeral but someone took a photo at the calling hours of the casket. My mother showed it to me after several months when it was developed and told me "See how Grandpa looks like he's sleeping?" I had just been to the gravesite, and thought everyone who was dead in the cemetary was buried in big rooms with pink curtains, candlebulb chandeliers, and plenty of flowers.

I used to believe…

when my little sister was about 7 she refused to let us eat the whole rainbow trout that had been brought to the restaurant table as she was convinced that it would wake up any minute.

I used to believe…

My grandmother died when I was too young to go to the funeral my older sister went and reported back to me that "Grandmother died of the goat disease". I believed this for many years. Years later we relized that my sister had over heard someone say that "the old goat" had died.

I used to believe that Jason Donovan was an evil murderer who crept around at midnight murdering little girls who foolishly wore red pyjamas ( it was a cunning ploy to trick their parents, the blood wouldn't show up). I was more scared of Jason Donovan than anything before or since.

I used to believe…

My mother had a friend who always chewed gum. Mom once said to me "Oh yes Mrs. O'Brien would die without her gum". I was about 6 at the time and believed Mrs. O'Brein had to chew gum to keep herself alive. I used to tell all my friends that she had a special disease and only chewinbg gum could keep her alive. I am embarassed to say how old I was before I realized my mother was only using an expression. (maybe 13)

I used to believe…

When I was 10, I belived that wild animals never died unless they were eaten or killed unnaturaly, I belived this until I found a dead fox in the woods.

I used to believe that the people that lived across from the cemetary in Canarsie would wake at 3am to party with all the dead people that rose from their graves every night.

I used ot think that people who died in movies or on tv really died. To justify this, they MUST have used criminals from death row.

I did not know for many years that the Wizard of Oz started in black and white, went to color, then back to black and white. When we first got our color TV it was one of the first movies we rented- I was SO bummed when it started!

I used to believe…

When I would watch a movie and someone got killed I thought they got killed in real life and couldn't understand why they wanted to participate in that movie

I used to believe…

My grandmother told us that when someone died, they went into the big hole. So, I figured that if grown-ups went into the big hole, kids must go into a little hole. I was petrified of getting too close to any hole, in fear of being sucked into it. This included nail holes in the wall where pictures used to hang, knotty pine wall panelling, all kinds of wierd stuff like that.
She also used to tell us that when you died, you went up the old wooden hill to heaven. For a long time, we were afraid to go to bed because we had to walk up the "wooden" stairs to get there. We either ran up as fast as we could, or walked up real slow.

I used to believe…

Once time my cat caught a baby rabbit, and I managed to get the rabbit off of the cat before it died. I kept it in a cardboard box and tried to nurse it back to health, but it died within a day. I had just watched the movie Return to Oz where Dorothy cried over the dead Pumpkin Head, and when her tears fell on him he came back to life. So I made a bed for the dead rabbit in the bottom drawer of my dresser and I took it out regularly to hold and cry over in the hopes that it would come back to life. I remember after it died it got stiff and then the next day, after I had cried over him, his joints had loosened up, so I thought that the tears-thing was working! I didn't know then that rigor mortis is only temporary.

I didn't remember this but my mother told me that the rabbit actually started to smell and that is how she discovered that I was keeping it in my bottom drawer! Yick!

I used to believe that every one that
passed away would come and visit me.
No matter if I knew them or not!

I used to believe…

A couple of teenagers that babysat me when I was abou 4 told me that if you had cracks in your tongue you were going to die, and all I remember thinking is...my dad has cracks all over his tongue. To this day I still look at the cracks in my tongue and wonder....

I used to believe…

The word 'euthanasia' always confused me. How did a bunch of young people over in another continent relate to the old people they're talking about on TV? ("youth in asia")