grown-ups

I used to believe that all black people were cousins. I lived in a small town and every one of the black children that went to my school were related.

I used to think that when I grew up, I was going to be Batman. I sincerly beleived that at some point in my life I would don a costume and go and fight crime from a cave.

I used to believe that when I grew up I had to marry my brother because we had the same last name. I was very angry about this because at the time I really didn't like him.

I used to believe…

As we drove past our local cinima my 5 year old daughter started to spell out V-I-R-G-I-N and her seven year old sister pronounced "virgin". The inevitable question came from the 5 year old
"Mummy, what is Virgin". I was lost for words but her sister replied in a very superior tone "Don't you know anything, it is someone who works for Richard Branson of course!"
I was happy to let the subject drop, but I remembered it again when the girls had their Nativity assembily. It gives a whole new slant on the Christmas story.

I used to believe…

When I was little my father would tell my sister and me that if a boy kisses you your nose would fall off. I learned he was lying when a oy kissed me on the chhek

I used to believe…

When my sister and I were younger I would tell her she was adopted because she was dark skinned and I'm fair skinned. She finally learned the truth at age 10

I used to believe…

when i wuz a lil gurl my mom told me if i worked hard i could b anything i wanted to b
so i thought ide become a fish !!!!i neverknew how ide achieve that but i really fantasized bout it!!!!!

I used to believe…

When I was a kid I was told so much crap by adults around me that I thought all adults must be crazy. The stories sounded just crazy to me and I thought that as I got older I'd get just like them. Every time I'd do or say something wrong my sisters would call me crazy and I though it was a sign that I was growing up and becoming an adult because the word adult sounds so much like "A DOLT"

I used to believe…

I was three years old when JFK was assassinated. Though I don�t remember it, I knew it made an impression on me.

My uncle Joe was about 15 years older than me and he lived at my grandmother's house. Joe was kind of a wild fella back then, always getting into trouble. He also had hunting rifles in the house. I was afraid of the guns, but was fascinated with the big scope attached to one of them.

Once when I was five or six I got up the courage to look through that scope. I was totally amazed and intrigued with the crosshairs that I saw superimposed on what I looked at through the scope.

Some time after that I was reading through a book my parents had about the Kennedy assassination. To my absolute horror, the book contained (what I later realized was) a photographic re-enactment of the shooting as seen by the assassin. The picture showed a limousine from behind, with people in it and a man I knew was supposed to be Kennedy. The photo was shot through a scope like my uncle�s, and the crosshairs were aimed directly at the back of Kennedy�s head.

In my young mind, I could only draw one conclusion: My cousin Joe had killed President Kennedy.

I feel really stupid now.....but when I was in the second grade, my mom had been in the hospital so many times and came home with a baby every time. This time my father was in the hospital and I thought for sure he was going to bring home yet another baby.

I used to believe…

When I was a kid I noticed that adults [liek my parents] were bigger than me, and that adults older than my parents [like my grandparents] were shorter than my parents, I thought you grew up till you were big, then you shrank back down till you were kid sized and started all over again ...

I used to believe…

When I was little, I believed my little brother looked the way every boy in the world should look, and if they didn't look like him, they weren't perfect.

boy that changed quick...

I once told my mother when I was 4 years old that I was going to marry my 4 year old 'boyfriend', Mikey and that our children would be named Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. When she told me we were too young, I said "No, we're not! I already know all the cuss words!" We later held a secret ceremony in the woods behind our houses that involved peeing on a turtle and an ant hill. If only more weddings involed peeing on turtles...

i used to believe that when I grew up and was perfect (which is the line my grandmother kept telling me ..) that I would be able to take my teeth out just like her.

I used to belive that when you got married the bride and groom told the pastor how many kids they wanted and he would give them a seed (like a plant seed)for each kid.

I used to believe…

My husband had an old uncle with a wooden leg, and taht uncle told all the kids in the neighborhood that a little bird lived in his peg. My husband believed him.