Some things you never outgrow…
By Kelly Thompson
The year was 1971, a pretty good year for me. Things were happening…big things in my little kid life. Some memories of that time loom vividly and large even today. 1971 was the year I entered first grade, the year I got my 1st pair of Sears Toughskin jeans (green, made up of a high-tech-sweat-producing blend of Dacron polyester, Nylon, and cotton), and the year I remember volunteering for the first time.
(flickr.com)
My parents were heavily involved in the local volunteer/civic organization here in Louisville. My mom was in her late twenties and my dad his early thirties. My brother and I were always with them for the rummage sales, the toy drives, the painting projects, and the barbeques they helped to organize, all in the efforts to make a difference in someone else’s life.
I remember the Saturday morning I accompanied my mom to a local orphanage. The week before we had lovingly made hand puppets made of socks, yarn, and miscellaneous buttons from my mom’s sewing kit. It was a couple of weeks before Christmas and we went to the orphanage that day to help put on a holiday-themed puppet show for the kids. Crouched alongside my mother behind the plywood puppet “stage” our carefully-crafted puppet personalities sang a little ditty called “All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth”. I can still remember the silly voice my mom used while singing along to the 45 record playing in the background. The kids had a great time, we had a great time…I was hooked!
There are many things we eventually outgrow, some of them for very good reasons, and some perhaps we should never lose (like simple pleasures and silly songs). Sears sold their Toughskins with a guarantee that children would grow out of their jeans before the jeans wore out. I am here to report that sometime between 1972 and 1975 I outgrew my very special green “tri-blend” wonder pants…a fact makes me very happy to this day.
I am also very happy to report about something I haven’t outgrown: a passion and commitment to making a difference through my volunteer engagement with the issues I care about most in my community. The puppet show was only the beginning for me, thanks to my mother.
Perhaps one day I will be making sock puppets with my children and silly songs too, a legacy I look forward sharing with them.