This is a picture of my godparents, Ted and Susan Armstrong and me. It was my birthday-10th or 11th I think. I have so many memories with these wonderful people...we got together with them every Christmas Eve, birthdays, Kristy and I would stay with them when Mom and Dad went on vacation.
I remember when their oldest (or is it eldest?) daughter Stacy was married, Kristy was told that she could try on Stacy's dress when she turned 8. On The Day (that my sister looked forward to for a looooooooong time) they took some lovely pictures of Kristy all dressed up. It was such a special thing for them to do.
A famous story in our house was about the attitude Kristy and I took when our parents explained to us that we had godparents and what they were for. Mom and Dad were heading for a trip to England and told us that if something happened to them, we would go live with Ted and Susan. Our kind and very deep feeling parents were prepared for emotional outbursts or some other psychological reaction but instead they received maturity and understanding from their daughters. It was later that day that Mom caught Kristy and I walking around the house with a marker and masking tape, labeling everything we wanted to get when our parents died. Not quite the reaction the parenting books warned the folks about.
In October 1987, I experienced my first earthquake. It was the morning, my mom had walked out the door to go to work, my dad and sister were in the back of the house getting ready for the day and I was on my way out the door to get my brush from the car before my mom left. The earthquake hit as soon as I opened the door. My mom yells to me to get under the dining room table. On my way, a fake-no, that sounds bad, let's say faux-grandfather clock barely misses me on its way to the ground. The noises I heard scared me to the core. The aftershocks kept coming and coming and I stayed under the table.
When the quake stopped, an eternity of silence began. My 10 year old dramatic mind was sure that the earth had obviously opened up and swallowed my family whole. My mind raced with so many thoughts and questions but at the forefront: How far is the city of Cerritos and do I really know how to go to Ted and Susan's?
My mom says it was maybe 1 full minute between the quake and my mom coming back inside the house. By then, I had picked out my room (duh, Kelli's was way better than Stacy's!) and I wasn't all that sad about my family being gone because Ted and Susan always had Kudos Bars and I kept thinking about how they might give me one when I got over to their house.
I mean, c'mon. Those Kudos bars are really good.
Sue was a delightful woman to be with. Her speaking voice was almost melodic and her laughter was infectiously contagious. She taught me how to take baths "Armstrong Style" which meant candles, music, a good book and no one knocking on the door. Sadly, Sue is no longer with us and, as many of you know, I will be walking the November Breast Cancer 3-Day walk in her honor. I scanned the photo I posted above to put on my personal fundraising page and as I looked at it, I felt it was perfect for a Flashback Friday Post.
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