Blog #7 Research and Voice

My great-uncle Merril died this morning.  He was ninety-six.  He was a kind, intelligent man who was fascinated by history and loved to tell stories.  He was a teacher, not a mechanic or farmer like most of the men in my family from that generation.  He was a teacher, a less physically taxing profession, because he had polio.  The virus left him partially paralyzed on one side and having to wear leg and arm braces.

The 1952 polio outbreak was the worst in U.S. history killing 3,145 and leaving 21,269 with some level of paralysis.  Some were so severely paralyzed they had to be placed in an iron lung to help them breathe.  Polio primarily affects children and I can only imagine the fear parents must have felt during the summers when polio epidemics were most likely to occur.  There is evidence the disease has wreaked havoc for centuries, but thankfully it has become less and less common since the polio vaccine was developed in the 1950’s. 

Polio epidemics profoundly changed those who survived them.  They also changed U.S. culture.  The disease was well publicized during the epidemics of the 1950’s which sparked grassroots fund-raising campaigns similar to the breast cancer, multiple sclerosis, leukemia, and heart disease campaigns of today.  The scientists who contributed to finding the vaccine were venerated as heroes.   Polio survivors are one of the largest disabled groups in the world and have played a major role in the disability rights movement.  

I don’t know if my great-uncle Merril was ever formally involved in the disability rights movement, but he lived his life it such a way that I never considered him disabled.  He was passionate, enthusiastic, and interested in everything from politics to geology.  He was a loving husband, father of five, grandfather and great-grandfather.  He was a beloved teacher and a great story-teller.  

Blog #6 On Legwarmers

The little girl line ahead of me is adorable.  She's walking in circles around a pole and during each rotation she peeks up at me through her white sunglasses.  She can't be more than eighteen months old, but she looks more put together than I ever have in my almost four decades.  Her jet black hair is cut in a bob with fashionable bangs.  Her dress is pink and brown, feminine, without being too precious.  She's wearing matching brown tights and when she bends over I can see there's a bear's face on her diapered back side.  Her perfectly coordinated shoes are pink with little brown flowers.  And, wait for it, she's wearing fuzzy brown legwarmers.

That's right legwarmers.  And she's rocking them!  This cutie looks like she just stepped out of a baby fashion magazine.

At home I Google legwarmers and learn that the fad I thought died before I entered junior high school has been reborn as the latest in baby fashion.  Images of babies in onsies wearing every conceivable color of legwarmers flood my computer screen.  The light blue legwarmers worn by a giggling baby boy remind me of the legwarmers I wore in the 1980's over a royal blue full body leotard.  I'll wait a moment while that image sinks in.

Here's the best part, my Barbie had a matching outfit.  Well almost.  Her legwarmers were Barbie striped, you know, baby blue, yellow, and pink.  She had a matching blue headband.  I had to borrow my dad's sweaty headband to complete my ensemble which I wore when I worked out in my bedroom to my Mousercise cassette tape or did Jane Fonda with my grandmother at her house.    

As cool as I thought I was in my legwarmers, I've never found fashion all that understandable.  I've always felt like I was a day late and a dollar short when it came to clothing choices, but even I knew the eighties were a bad decade for fashion.  When legwarmers went the way of the dinosaurs, I firmly believed it was for the best.  So, I'm surprised that I find these infant legwarmers cute.  Thankfully, my kids are old enough to make their own fashion choices or I might be out looking for legwarmers to match all their outfits.  Or then again, maybe not. 

Blog #5 On Earlobes

When my daughter was eleven she and her best friend got their ears pierced together.  They were giggly and excited and feeling very grown up as we arrived at the mall.  Natalie started looking nervous when she was picking out the earrings that would be used to pierce her ears.  She squeezed my hand when the moment came.  Her earlobes were bright red when it was over, but her smile was huge. 

Some think earlobes may help warm the ears and maintain balance, but most studies show that ear lobes are soft, fleshy, bulbous appendages with no major functional purpose.  They are filled with nerves and considered an erogenous zone.  They may be kissed, licked, or nibbled in love.  They may be pierced, gauged, or stretched. 

Earlobes are torn often enough that earlobe repairs are considered a common surgery.  They stretch over time due to the weight of earrings or just due to age.  Earlobe lifts are available just like face lifts or breast lifts to tighten pendulous flesh and disguise the passage of time.

Carole Burnett used to close her shows by tugging on her earlobe- a secret message to her beloved grandmother.  Earlobes with expensive diamond earrings can send the message of wealth.  In some areas of the world the longer your earlobes have been stretched is a sign of status.  Earlobes can be pierced multiple times or gauged as a sign of non-conformity.  Earlobes can be pierced as a rite of passage.