Nudity
It was a summer morning, not too hot, and I stood in the cool shade under a large
maple tree in my backyard. I took off my striped tee-shirt and enjoyed the breeze on my
chest. It felt so good, I decided to try and remember the moment. I was eight years old
and took seriously what I was told about childhood being special. I figured remembering
calamities wouldn't be a problem, so I put my efforts into filing away memories of the
mundane.
Mother called me in to tell me I had been invited to play Barbie dolls. I wasn't sure what
a Barbie doll was, but I knew it was by Mattel and therefore too expensive. Mother told me
to go and take my Tiny Tears doll.
At the Barbie doll party, a half dozen girls were swapping Barbie outfits and
demonstrating how to improve Barbie's out of the box hairdo by ratting her hair with a
toothbrush. Tiny Tears was not welcome. I was told to play in the corner and pretend that
Tiny Tears was Barbie's baby. The Barbies were not good mothers to their gargantuan
offspring, and were not charmed into visiting by her now passé ability to "cry real
tears."
Several girls told me that I had been seen outside without a shirt and it was wrong for a
girl to do that. At that I lifted my chin proudly and went home, where I begged my mother
until she bought me Barbie. I never took my shirt off outside again.
©1996 by Marilyn Knapp Litt
Return to Maybe Later . . . A
Creative Nonfiction Webzine
My Vietnam Related Websites:
Women in
Vietnam ~ Not only nurses served . . .
Dusty's Home
Page ~ Poetry and prose by a woman who was a nurse in Vietnam
Emily's
Poetry ~ By a Red Cross Donut Dolly
Battle
Dressing ~ The Journey of a Nurse in Vietnam
Tim
O'Brien's Home Page ~ National Book Award Winner and Americal Vet
Shrapnel in
the Heart ~ The most moving book you will read on Vietnam
The
Irish on the Wall ~ An effort to locate the Irish who died in Vietnam
Project Hearts
and Minds ~ Help put Viet Nam back together
All About
Vietnam ~ An annotated bibliography of books about Vietnam for sale
thru Amazon Worldwide!
Photos
from a Holts' Military History Tour ~ My trip to Vietnam, February 1998
Illinois
Vietnam Women's Memorial ~ Honoring all the Illinois women who served
My Other Websites:
Chicago
Theatre Z - A ~ This is the best theater town in the country!
Writers
Theatre of Chicago ~ And this is the best theater in town
Literature
of the Korean War ~ Don't let the literature be forgotten
Poetry
of the First World War ~ Owen, Hardy and others
Samuel
Pepys ~ One of my favorite authors
Gil
Thorp ~ THE Coach
Maybe
Later . . . ~ My Creative Nonfiction
Chi-COW-go
~ Cowz plus Commentary (this used to be a cow town)
Graham
Fulton, Scottish Poet ~ Charles Manson Auditions for the Monkees
Soccer
Literature ~ I'm a fan and I read
O'Leary Lantern ~
Fire! Fire! Fire!
Other Important Websites:
PreviewPort.com
~ Connecting Authors and Writers Worldwide
Remember
Oklahoma City ~ Civil Service and Military Employees will never forget
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Page last updated September 19, 2002
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