Memories of my life from Grandmother Hartzell

Aug 27, 2013 22:21

This is a periodic account of my life from birth through age 14 (1998) written by my Grandmother Hartzell onto loose-leaf notebook paper. Bestowed to me by my parents last week.



Jameson Hartzell Rhodes

Born early afternoon on a cold, blustery December 17th, 1983, Elkhart General Hospital, Elkhart, Indiana. A little after 8 p.m. his father and I donned green hospital smocks and a nurse brought him out for us to hold and take pictures of him. He looked directly at us as each held him, a sort of calculating expression on his face. His eyes were focusing already, it seemed to me.

He was a strong little creature from the beginning, and used his feet to propel himself upward when being burped.

Not much hair at first, but when it did come in -- thick, dark reddish-brown.

Eyes continued sharp. Always he turned his reading material right side up if it was given to him upside down. He liked being read to and loved to point out what was being described in the reading.

The cuckoo clock intrigued him from 6 months on. We'd hold him up to the clock and turn the hands to make the cuckoo come out and call the time. When he began walking, about 9+ months, he imitated the pendulum's swing of the hallway clock and went down the bedroom hall swinging back and forth on tippy toe, like a drunken sailor, I thought. Before wearing shoes he always walked on his toes.

He early showed a delightful sense of humor and always laughed when Ratty shamed Toad with, "What a sight you are, sitting there blowing hay out of your nose!" from Kenneth Graham's The Wind in the Willows. He seemed to identify completely with "Alexander and His Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" at age three, although clearly Alexander was older than he.

At age two when his parents took a week's trip to Hawaii he had a rough time. One night when I was tucking him into his crib, he asked a strange question: "Did I have a good time today?" I spoke of the few things we had done which I could remember, but he broke from me with, "No! I did not have a good time today!" and flung himself down. I thought my heart would break for him. On the day we received their first card, though, he seemed reconciled and began to believe they had not abandoned him, that they planned to return.

At age two he "drove" Aunt Janet and Grandmother on the safari at the Ft. Wayne Zoo. At age three he "drove" again, but it was no big deal. We also took the train ride through the tunnel and back. He liked that. He absolutely refused to get into a kayak and go around the new Australian "outback" area, however. He is afraid of being in a boat over water and even refused to visit the stationary "Ark" with the reptile exhibit. When Janet and I pointed out things we thought would interest him, his response was a bored, "I see it!"

"Grandmother's little scholar," he would say when he found my eye glasses and donned them. He knew I wouldn't spank him as a "little scholar." (Age 2+3)

Near age three and even into age four, Tiger likes to hide his eyes and pretend he has disappeared.

By age four, he was making up stories to tell himself.

His favorite videos seem to be fantasies or something strange and unusual: "The Sleeping Beauty," "Robinson Crusoe," "Donald Duck's Christmas Carol," "The Selfish Giant."

At age 4½ he refuses to go into relatives' homes sometimes, claiming "I'm shy" so he can remain in the car! And he can be very obstinate.

During August, 1988, he announced to his mother he was no longer interested in marrying her when he grew up; he would marry his cousin Kayla instead!

Early in September, 1988, he had the training wheels removed from his bike. Now he can fly on two wheels!

October 1, 1988. His father proudly announced he no longer needs to wear a diaper to bed. This sudden "maturity" seemed a concomitant to the new bike. He is "mellowing" but enjoys chasing around with Cousin Kayla.

Jameson's "mellowness" continued through his birthday party his parents had for immediate relatives. He did not have to be sent upstairs to his room or even be reprimanded. He and Kayla played nicely at Christmastime at Grandmother Hartzell's, too. He still claims shyness!

He recognizes his numbers and large and small letters. He's ready to start reading at age five, I think! By February, 1989, at age five, his mother reports recognition of numbers up to 100 by sight on call cards. He is working on the printing of the letter Y, but he has been able to recognize all the letters of the alphabet for some time.

He can hit a foam rubber ball, about 3½" diameter, with considerable accuracy with a "soft" (foam) bat at a relatively short (3 to 4 yards) distance, so manual dexterity is improving along with his ability to use pencil and crayons.

Mother's Day, May 14, 1989

Jameson proudly showed me his petunia whose pot he had carefully decorated at school for his mother. He did well!

He plays video games skillfully "so I don't get killed," he explained. Eye and hand coordination are exceptionally good.

He is playing with boys of the neighborhood near his age. Miss Tracy, his teacher, states he has made such a vast improvement this year in sociabilities. He is no longer classed as a "loner."

In July, on the way to the Indianapolis Zoo, he sounded out some simple words I wrote on Kayla's slate for him. The shorts his mother wanted him to wear, ones that would go with his magenta colored knitted shirt, were "too tight" and he refused to wear them, choosing instead to wear comfortable shorts that didn't go too well with that top. He values comfort over color coordination at age 5½.

His hair is dark, a mahogany brown.

September, 1989, his mother informed me Jameson has discovered "eagle pennies" (quarters) are worth more than the coins with Abraham Lincoln's picture on them (pennies)!

Feb. 11, 1990. Jameson read a story about "The Moon Machine" aloud for Aunts Peg & Janet & Grandmother Hartzell with a minimum of help from his father. It was one of Kayla's books, so he hadn't read it before. He puts expression in exciting places!

August, 1990. Jameson begins first grade. I feel he will be a good student because he has a sound basis in phonetics and also recognizes many words at sight. His number combinations make sense to him, and he realizes paper money is worth more than coins! But coins can add up to the worth printed on paper money.

I took him to the Elkhart County Fair at Goshen and was surprised to find a wide variety of interests he evinced. We spent a good, long day there because he was so interested.

The Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo seemed just a little less interesting to him until we arrived at the Australian exhibit. He wanted to see everything in THAT building twice, especially the "coral reef" part. Fascinating!

The Indiana State Fair was just too big and extensive to thoroughly enjoy this year. Perhaps in another year.

1990 (cont.) Among his first grade classmates is a boy whom he first met this summer at T-ball. He was excited about that. T-ball did a lot toward developing social skills as well as athletic, I think.

By November Jameson is reading script and wants to learn cursive. His mother is encouraging him with help to speed his learning. This apparently is not yet taught in his first grade class.

His parents report he is quite sociable and likes to have his friends in often.

January, 1991.

Jameson enjoys going over to Aunt Peg + Uncle Randy's with his father who is helping develop the Baumgartner's basement into a family room and a spare bedroom. He and Kayla play well together. He had an ear infection but his mother reports that medication has cleared it.

He lost his first two lower teeth the first of the month. New ones "pushed" them out. The two upper incisors are loose but are still in place at the end of the month.

August, 1991. He announced that following the first day in grade 2, he would no longer need to fall asleep with someone! About time!!

He rides his two-wheeler with aplomb -- but he did make too quick a turn with disastrous results. He'll not do that again.

During October his mother gave Jameson her pocket dictionary to take to school. Now he can look up words in order to spell correctly without asking his teacher. He is a good speller, doing well in mathematics, reads exceptionally well.

Sept. Jameson "trimmed" his bangs and it shows in his 2nd grade school pictures -- which weren't distributed until spring!

June 7, 1992. I gave Jameson the framed and named rock collection purchased from the Smithsonian Museum. His mother reported he is absolutely delighted with it and names them all correctly. He's even read up on some, like fool's gold, and which are sought as semi-precious jewels.

June 16, 1992. Jameson's Tee-Ball team "skunked" their opponents. He was at bat seven times and had a hit each time at bat, the first two home-runs -- thanks largely to the opponents' ineptness at fielding.

He's spending the summer in the YMCA program for child care. He loves the activities but dislikes their crafts!

July 20th 1992. After being brought to Grandmother Hartzell's on Sunday, today (Monday) we headed for the Indianapolis Children's Museum and spent the day. He remembered many of the exhibits from his visit last year, but this time a cave has been added. He realized he was too old for "Children's Playtime," nor did he want to ride the carousel. "I'm too big for that stuff any more," he said. He bought a "magical ball" that moves but does not "roll." (?) It does!

July 21, 1992. Today we went to the Richmond, Indiana Museum where he saw a $3 bill (a state bank note), some interesting anitque cars, a mummy (He turned on the light to view the x-ray of the mummy's skeleton.) which fascinated him to no end, a good rock collection, etc. He decided he liked going to museums very much. There are so many interesting things to see. He purchased a couple of stones as his souvenirs.

He enjoyed the main building at the Hayes Arboretum on Elks Road outside of Richmond. We lost our way on some of the footpaths without a map, but eventually found our way back. Here he purchased some dinosaurs that came in small capsules; but when put in hot water, the gelatin capsule melts and the animal emerges, 20 times larger than the capsule!

July 22. Today we began our overnight trip to the Ohio River by stopping off at the old canal town, Metamora. We were early, of course, and many stores were not open, but there was enough to hold Jameson's interest. He wanted to operate the camcorder and I was afraid he would ruin a lot of footage. The store where we could have purchased more rocks was still closed, but the old mill was open -- but not operating. Still, we saw the big stone burrs and the operator explained about the waterpower by which the mechanism worked. By this time, Jameson was really nagging about using the camcorder. We went into an old fashioned sweets store, mainly to assuage his whining. Here he decided on some candy cigarettes and I said, "No!" I didn't want him ever to simulate the process of smoking. Then he decided on bubblegum, and again I said, "No! You'll have it all over the car upholstery." Oh, no he wouldn't. "I don't even know how to blow bubbles," he whined. And then the snit set in, even after I let him use the camcorder briefly to picture the old mill and the water duct. All the way to Oldenburg he pouted, nor would he get out to see the historic old German structures. But when I returned to the car, he wanted to know if we were returning home or going to the Ohio River. I informed him I had had my heart set on seeing that river and I was going where I wanted to go! From then on he was all sunshine and took an interest in the hilly terrain, spotted the "Hilltop Hotel" in eastern Madison and stated that it was where he wanted to spend the night! We didn't stop then, but went down to the Lanier home along the river, then drove through Clifty Falls State Park to look for food, back to the Lanier home where I let him use the camcorder to his heart's content. He was impressed with the architectural style of the home, noting the high, embellished ceilings, huge doorways and doors, and the spiral staircase which winds up to the third floor. He was impressed with the style of furnishings and that the house faced the river.

We drove across the yellow iron bridge into Kentucky, but there is naught but a hamlet on the Kentucky side. "Hilltop Hotel" is very near this bridge, so indeed we did spend the night there. Alas! It had seen better days, but from our balcony we could see the yellow bridge and the rooftops of Madison, Indiana. He was delighted with it and readily used the elevator, by himself, to go down three flights to fill our ice bucket for the evening and also for our thermos the following morning. A big thunderstorm hit Madison that evening, but we were snugly in our hotel for supper and the night.

July 23, 1992 (Thursday)

We left Madison rather reluctantly after driving down to the river area again. We headed home on S.R. 3 so we could go through Greensburg where a tree grows out of the courthouse roof. Although it was a gray morning, Jameson's camcorder pictures turned out to be fairly good.

Later, back home, we played "our" video cassette and discovered a great blank space after Metamora pictures. Somehow, I had managed to stash the camcorder into the car with the "on" signal going. Therefore, our Madison pictures of the Lanier Home, although fairly good, and the recording of the tree on the Greenburg courthouse roof, are at the very end of the film!! Sorry, Tiger! Grandmothers do peculiar things!!

Christmas, 1992. How tall is Jameson! He will soon be overtaking his mother in height... at age nine!

June, 1993.

Jameson tried out for baseball, struck out, and he quit!

July, 1993.

Jameson's mother quit work to be home so he wouldn't have to spend his days at YMCA Day Care!

August, 1993

Jameson and Grandmother spent a little time in an additional trip to historic places in Indiana, this time in southwestern portions of the state. He enjoyed the George Rogers Clark memorial and museum in Vincennes as well as the Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison home. From here we went to New Harmony, spent the night near Hendersonville, Kentucky, back to New Harmony the next day, then on to the Angel Mounds just east of Evansville, spent a second night in Evansville, then headed leisurely for home.

September 27, 1993.

His mother says he is liking school, enjoys the "Spice" reading program, and is doing his homework by himself. He was taken bowling last week and wants to return. He is also experimenting a little on roller skates.

December 17, 1994

Jameson is letting his hair grow and parts it in the middle. No more "butch" for him. His mother says he is far more interested in his appearance.

For birthday - Christmas, his parents gave him a CD player with all the accoutrements, so I gave him a couple of CDs of "Light Classical Music" to get him started right.

He's become a computer "nut," thanks to the games his parents have provided.

He still likes to read, thank heaven!

1995

Grandmother H. had shingles, late spring and early summer. It seemed to take the summer to fully recuperate so we took no trip this year. Our entire families, Rhodes, Baumgartner and Hartzells, ate in the Ft. Wayne Window Garden for Thanksgiving. Jameson was neatly dressed in his first full suit, white shirt, tie, and shoes (oxfords). His hair was neatly combed. He was impressive! He is conscious of wanting to make a good appearance, at least sometimes! He was dressed casually for Aunt Peg's Christmas celebration, but so were we all.

He and his mother came to Muncie for his 12th birthday. I was surprised and pleased. He does irritate me when he asks his mother for something for which he should ask me directly.

His main Christmas birthday gift was a new computer, some of which his parents are charging him from his allowance.

June 2, 1996

Jameson's mother left for Aunt Peg's where she will accompany her two sisters to Niagara Falls and the "Thousand Islands" of the St. Lawrence River where they will visit Boldt Castle on one of these islands .. and where the recipe for "Thousand Island Dressing" developed. He refused to give his mother a goodbye kiss, or even a hug! He is just too self-conscious for words!!

October 24, 1996

Jameson, Kayla and Steven came with Grandmother H. to Muncie to see "Liquid Visions" at Minnetrista. He enjoyed the laser fireworks, halogenic visions, etc. very much, but there was such a crowd in all three galleries. He and Kayla were quite price conscious at the gift shop. Not so Steven!

On Friday we went to the Muncie Children's Museum where he was rather fascinated with the Garfield Cat display, especially when uninhibited cousin Steven "performed" with Garfield. Braces on his teeth curtail eating to some extent.

December 14, 1996. Since Jameson's 13th birthday falls on Tuesday, Dec. 17th, I took gifts and check for him on the 14th (Saturday) as well as for his mother's birthday. He had a Smithsonian "$5" dollar gold coin and a Smithsonian "$1" silver coin to add to his collection. For Christmas he will receive different nickels issued the same year. Not too many such. Christmas Eve was spent at Grandparents Rhodes.

Christmas Day, 1996. Spent with his mother's family at Peg + Randy's. He carefully stacked his unwrapped gifts and took them out to their car before any got lost. Then he helped Steven assemble some of his electronic toys. Good boy!

His mother says they need to practice his trumpet solo if she is to accompany him on the piano.

He received a "First" on his first solo contest.

June 7, 1997

Jameson is deep into computers. He was showing me a "College Entrance Exam" that was absolutely ridiculous; i.e., "Who is buried in Grant's tomb?"

He is signed up for trumpet lessons and guitar for the summer, as well as a concentrated computer course in June. I'm glad he likes to learn.

Early in August he accompanied his parents for a week's stay in Indian River, Michigan, from which they went to Petoskey, Mackinac Island and other interesting places.

September, 1997

Jameson is in the Concord Middle School which means he needs to move from one classroom to another. He is in the 8th grade band already with his trumpet, even though he started a year later than most of his classmates. His friend Jared ("the smartest boy in my class") has moved to Ft. Wayne, so that leaves Jameson at the top. He misses Jared -- and attended his mother's wedding with his parents.

December 14, 1997 (Saturday)

I delivered birthday gifts to Jameson and his mother on Saturday because the 17th falls on a Wednesday this year. Jeanine was dressed and eating breakfast; Don was outside; Jameson was still abed (10:45 AM) with a school friend. They had gone to bed late, so were allowed to sleep in. He was showered and dressed by 12:30 and his school chum had gone home. We ate at Das Essenhaus so as to put me on the way to the Baumgartners to leave off wrapped gifts that would take up too much room.

At age 14, Jameson is thinning and has deep dimples on each side of his mouth still. The orthodontist added red & green "decorations" to this teeth braces. His hair is still very dark and straight. He sometimes shows a delightful sense of humor.

Saturday, January 31, 1998

Aunt Janet and Grandmother Hartzell went with Don, Jeanine and Jameson to Elkhart Central High School to hear Jameson play his trumpet for judging. He was plenty nervous, but so were most of the other students. His musical score had been composed by his trumpet teacher and it contained changes in tempo and keys, making it far more difficult than last year's composition. Again, his mother did a good job of accompanying him on the piano. I was proud of both. He was awarded a "First" and collected his medal. Aunt Janet laughed and said she would donate her medals -- if she could find them! But now he has two "Firsts."

Jameson is still wearing braces; but now, after the competition, he could enjoy the Das Essenhaus butterscotch pie Aunt Janet and I had brought from there.

Summer, 1998. Jameson's summer was spent close to home so he could participate in band practice and at band camp. He seems committed to marching band. The Concord Marching Band won the local, the regional, and on to the state where it placed 3rd, but only 1 point behind first. (Second place was ½ pt. behind 1st.) One of the judges thought it a shame they couldn't offer three first prizes.

Thanksgiving, 1998. Jameson is tall and towers over us all. His posture is good and he proudly displayed his black band jacket. As a freshman, he was proud to announce the school directors have placed him in the Symphonic Band, a place usually reserved for the best players in junior and senior years.
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