We moved every few years, which is normal for anyone whose parent works for the military. Often we were called Army Brats.
However, this move was also a step up the ladder for my father. His new posting was Chief of Medicine. So our new house was set on a circle with only 4 others. Next door to us was the Surgeon General's Home. His, being the center of the 5 houses, and the biggest. To be honest, I got quite a kick out of living next door to someone I thought of as famous. His name was on all the cigarette packages! Although, I never actually met him.
When we moved into the 'Quarters' as we called that house, we were amused with all the extra rooms, and built in bells. The extra rooms were for servants, the bells were for summoning them. Not really very nice when you think about how it might have been 30 years prior to our moving there. But, we knew nothing of that, blissfully being born after the Black/White segregation had been put to bed.
The other lovely aspect to living in the Quarters, was that we were really surrounded by nature. So, there was a very limited friend base, however, we could ride our bikes and run through the long summer days and hardly cross another persons path.
When school started, we were collected by a car and all the children from that part of the Base were driven to school together. This 'Naval Chauffeur' only added to the obvious labeling of Army Brat! Although, this privilege of living in a much bigger house and having plenty of fresh air and woodlands around, was all new, it did create a new anxiety. I started to feel guilty for having more than others. I can't remember designer labels, or watches, nobody had a mobile phone in those days. I never carried money to school and I didn't wear jewelry back then. So now that I think back, it must have been assumptions of the children from that first day in school.
For me, that first day was confusing. My new school had no clue where to put me. No one was expecting me. My brother and sister were older and they were already beyond Elementary/Primary school. So I was all on my own, being shuffled from one class to another. Eventually I was sat in Mrs Fawley's classroom. In there was a very odd young girl, she had her seat and desk up on what was a stage area. She looked down at me and said,"You don't belong here."
So, it was a while before I found some friends, During this time, I discovered Channel 5. Channel 5 had this great routine! The weekend started at 8 pm when Channel 5 would play movies, through to Sunday! Now, as we had three floors and four televisions. I could stay down, in the basement and watch the TV, all by myself AND far more importantly, All night long or until my eyeballs rolled up in my head! So, the choice of movies were generally lighthearted and rather dated., quite often I would get the chance to watch old Black & White Movies.
This was a time to learn about Abbot & Costello, Vincent Price, Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis movies! There are so many it is hard for me to begin to describe the list in detail. I remember a film called Irma La Douce, this film made in 1963 and was humorous and very odd, especially as think about my age at the time. This film is about an honest man falling in love with a prostitute.
As an adult it brings up all kinds of questions, should I really have been watching this? Is this really a suitable topic for a comedy? Then again, Pretty Woman, released 1990, was very similar, we see what a good girl this prostitute is. We also reveal in the romance that blooms between that couple!
That is why going to the cinema is so great! You are away from the house, so as a mother, you don't have to get up every two minutes to tidy something that needs your attention. At the cinema, it is easy, to release your critical mind and leap into a world where a man who loves a prostitute finds joy, happiness and a life with more colour! It is pure escapism! And what a delight! Sometimes we can work ourselves up to boiling point, trying to solve a problem and get more anxious and wound up! It is, before you get so wound up, that you need to go and do something, that is meditative, or non thinking, like doing the dishes to your favorite song. Or a trip to the cinema, where your mind is occupied by anything other than that work problem! And, do you know what? 9 times out of 10, taking that break gives your subconscious mind the chance to solve the problem.
Now that I am fully grown with children of my own, I realize how important it is to bathe your mind in good thoughts and images.
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