Monday, March 07, 2005

purple

dear diary–
tonight i became a purple belt. i wasn't really expecting to take a test so i was caught off guard. the worse part was that "h" wasn't in class so it meant that i had to do it by myself with everyone watching. eeks. luckily i passed although "the master" told me i need to syncronize my feet and hand movements. it's something to work on but i'm starting to feel more motivated about class now. i think it was good for me to have to take the test solo. usually when there are others with me i tend to rely on them. so i said goodbye to my blue belt which i've become quite fond of and am embaracing the purple one. whenever i think of the color purple, no i'm not talking about the movie although it is a great movie, i'm reminded of my aunt nan and her bedroom. my aunt loved her purple. from her clothes to her bedspread and wall paper. everything was purple. and if memory served correctly she even had purple eye shadow. when i was younger we went to new jersey every summer to visit my relatives. my aunt nan and her husband lived with my mommom [grandmother] and my other aunt. aunt nan worked at a police dispatcher so during the day she was sleeping. her husband uncle clint would sit either on the porch or in the living room working on word searches. my cousin and i would sometimes run to the corner store to get me smokes and he'd give us some extra movie ofr candy. summer's in jersey were pretty humid and these old houses didn't have air conditioning. but aunt nan's room did. we'd always run in there during the hours she was up. it was always freezing cold. it was like a purple paradise. the purple velvet curtains would be drawn shut to make even darker inside. dolls were littered along the bureau and she had lots of old movie star pictures on the wall. her side of the bed caved in slightly from her weight. we jump onto the bed with aunt nan and uncle clint, enjoying the coldness, and watched tv with them until we were called out to go to bed. that room was always like a mystery to us. i remember getting so excited when we were able to get inside if only for a brief moment of time. my two aunts, uncle clint, and mommom have a passed. the little purple room within the big house is no longer standing but i'll always have the great memories.

be well…

2 comments:

Pevil said...

You really mean the color purple with Oprah, didn't you!?!?

Kate said...

awww! this post is beautiful, ethan. what great memories. here's to aunt nan and mommom.