Thursday, May 14, 2009

Header Changes!





I changed my header picture and of course there is a story behind the header picture!! In 1962 we went to Hawaii for the first time. As it was indeed the "olden" days, the plane was a prop plane and the flight took something like a gazillion hours to get there! The trip was a last minute plan for some reason. In fact my birthday is the 22nd of December and my Mom had already sent out the birthday invitations for my party. Instead, that was cancelled and we celebrated Christmas early so that everything would not have to be packed up and taken with us and we went to Hawaii. Santa brought me a Chatty Baby that year. And he brought my little brother a talking Bugs Bunny. Of course they both came with us. My Dad travelled a lot for business in those days and my brother always went with my Mom to the airport when his plane would leave. He was fascinated by planes and always wanted to go too so this particular year he finally got his wish. We boarded the plane. Seat belt buckles on, cabin lights dimmed, and we taxied out to the runway. Just before we left the ground, a little voice started crying and saying "Mommy, tell them to turn back".....of course we did not turn back and the plane carried on down the runway. It was a rough ride through the night skies but we eventually ended up in Hawaii and it was love at first sight for me. Chatty Baby came along and my grandma knitted her a sweater and hat. I still have them but Chatty baby has been gone to parts unknown for many, many years. Recently I went looking for a doll like the one of my youth and finally found her on Ebay. No one was bidding and at the last minute, I did and got her for a really great price. She is just like my doll of long ago with pinwheel eyes and Canadian of course. Who would have known then that 45+ years later Canadian Chatty dolls would become the most coveted of all Chatties? Both of my Grandma's also came to Hawaii with us and my Aunt, Uncle and their two son's so it was a very festive trip. I am going to ad a little fuzzy photo (I wish I were talented enough to unfuzz and darken it but I am not!) to this post of us in Hawaii. The little girl on the left is holding my Chatty Baby and I am at the back right holding one of the other little girls Chatty Cathy that Santa had brought her for Christmas. We had found a big group of children to play with and these children were the offspring of US soldiers stationed in Hawaii.

2 comments:

Loretta said...

Linda, I love your new header! I love your Christmas story too. How fortunate you were to go to Hawaii at such a young age; I had to wait until I was 21 and my parents still haven't been there! I'm glad you found your baby at last.

Betty said...

Your Chatty babies look so pretty. Loved your story too!