One of my relatives recently joked that I'm ALWAYS on Facebook. They're right, in a way, as I look at Facebook as my daily contact with people who I wouldn't get to see otherwise - whether they be friends from former workplaces, past neighbors, relatives (which over half of my "friends list" actually are).
On Facebook, the newest trend is to post old photographs for "Turn Back Thursday" (abbreviated as TBT by most who participate).
Man, do I ever have a LOT of old photographs! I have things from the 1800's right up to last week. It's always an interesting task to make that decision on what photo to post for the week.
Not so with this post in this blog, as three are more photos than I'm going to have room for in the memorial post I wanted to do in a couple of weeks. What better way to do the "Turn Back" than to simply post the link to this post where I can have a little bit more of a permanent link for the person who was my very bestest best friend growing up, my partner in crime, the other side of the coin that was me, than to post the photos I've been coming across and tell about the part of my heart that was taken from me when I was 20?
June 14, 1961 was the birth date for this person, just three weeks after my own birth. His name was Timothy James Bartlett, and he was my cousin.
This first photo is from our first Christmas together. My walker was made of wood and I had become very used to the way it handled. Tim's was made of metal and he was also very used to the way it handled. Even though we hadn't started talking yet, we already shared an almost psychic bond, looking at each other before making a beeline for the Christmas tree, making our parents work very hard to try to keep us from tearing down the tree.
Then someone had the brilliant idea of switching walkers.
We got very distracted by the walkers that didn't behave like the ones we were used to, and Timmy seemed very determined to get his back, even though he couldn't figure out the mechanics of how to do so. It made for a couple of very cute photos and also saved Memere's Christmas tree.
Tim's dad was in the Navy, so we didn't see each other again for a while, when the family returned from being stationed in Hawaii when we were in first grade. When Disney released "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" that winter, 1968, we were all gathered again at Memere's house to watch "The Wonderful World of Disney". Unaware that no one else could do such a thing, I sang "The Tigger Song" after the show was over, having memorized it on that first hearing. Timmy decided that, since I already knew the song, I HAD to be Tigger. Some of my relatives STILL call me "Tigger", because "They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!
But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one". Um, yeah. I can be a little "over the top happy" at a lot of these gatherings......
At the end of that school year, the Bartletts were reassigned, eventually returning to Maine permanently when Tim and I were in sixth grade. While his parents chose a place to buy a house, we were once again classmates, and then Tim was just a few towns over, so we became even closer friends. At the family gatherings, we tended to hang out together, and the year we turned 14, we got into trouble by sharing one of Aunt Dot's chairs and discussing Tolkien. Seems we had our heads too close together, and one of my sisters went out to the parents insisting that Tim and I were kissing.
Yeah. Ok. From this photo that Pepere put into a collage that I eventually ended up with, I guess you could say he was a good looking young man. But seriously? We were practically forehead to forehead, discussing favorite characters and favorite scenes. He had started using the nickname "Gandalf" and walking around saying "Gandalf the Grey was sorta gay, but Gandalf the White is outta sight!" We discussed which character would most represent me, but Tim teasingly told me that, no matter which Tolkien nickname I chose for myself, I would ALWAYS be Tigger.....
Where did anyone get the idea I would be necking with my cousin?
We tried to be a little more careful about where we had our "tete-a-tete" chats, but they still happened - regularly. When my parents weren't able to go to his graduation from high school, my sis and I got dressed up and went to represent. These are the last photos I have of my beloved cousin:
I had just moved in with my college boyfriend at the beginning of my final semester at BCC/UMO and I was trying to decide what I was going to chose as my major for the next semester. I had already lost my "rudder", as my dad, who had always helped me to steer my life, had passed away from cancer in July 1980. Tim was planning on going into the service himself even while acting as the wind in my sails, encouraging me to continue with my education and make something of myself.
Then the phone call came through from my mom. Tim had been at a send off party with a bunch of his friends. His brothers had all climbed into one car to go straight home, but Tim had called "shot gun" for a friend's vehicle, taking another friend home on the way. According to the driver, they hit a small patch of black ice, and he wasn't real familiar with what to do when put into a spin. Timmy was laughing, then there was the thud and all got really quiet. They had hit a tree on the side of the road, breaking the leg of the kid in the back seat and snapping Tim's neck instantly. The wind in my sail was gone at the tender age of 20. For me, still struggling with the grief of watching my father die a slow, painful death, it was the death knell for my college career. Not only could I NOT chose between the acting career I had entered college to pursue and the writing career that I was being encouraged to go for, but NOTHING made sense any more. The two men who had been my entire world, the two male voices who had always listened to my concerns and helped me with their opinions about which direction I should chose were gone....
I still have days, even almost 33 years after I lost him, that I find myself wanting to pick up the phone and call Tim to run some annoying thing past him and get his view on it. I need his silly commentary, his "old soul in a young body" wisdom, and to share a laugh as I get encouraged, once again, to keep going and to keep being that unique person that Tim knew I always was.
Some days, I need to have someone tell me again that, no matter what other name I might chose to go by, I'm still, and always will be, Tigger in Timmy's eyes.
June 14, 2014.
He would have been 53, just like me.
He probably would have HATED "Turn Back Thursday" and this "weepy memorial" to him.
But I DO believe he would have LOVED what Peter Jackson has done with "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". I think of him whenever I hear this tune:
The Song of the Lonely Mountain
So, Tim, there you have it: I still miss you and wish I could spend just one more birthday with you.
With much love,
"Tigger"
On Facebook, the newest trend is to post old photographs for "Turn Back Thursday" (abbreviated as TBT by most who participate).
Man, do I ever have a LOT of old photographs! I have things from the 1800's right up to last week. It's always an interesting task to make that decision on what photo to post for the week.
Not so with this post in this blog, as three are more photos than I'm going to have room for in the memorial post I wanted to do in a couple of weeks. What better way to do the "Turn Back" than to simply post the link to this post where I can have a little bit more of a permanent link for the person who was my very bestest best friend growing up, my partner in crime, the other side of the coin that was me, than to post the photos I've been coming across and tell about the part of my heart that was taken from me when I was 20?
June 14, 1961 was the birth date for this person, just three weeks after my own birth. His name was Timothy James Bartlett, and he was my cousin.
This first photo is from our first Christmas together. My walker was made of wood and I had become very used to the way it handled. Tim's was made of metal and he was also very used to the way it handled. Even though we hadn't started talking yet, we already shared an almost psychic bond, looking at each other before making a beeline for the Christmas tree, making our parents work very hard to try to keep us from tearing down the tree.
Then someone had the brilliant idea of switching walkers.
We got very distracted by the walkers that didn't behave like the ones we were used to, and Timmy seemed very determined to get his back, even though he couldn't figure out the mechanics of how to do so. It made for a couple of very cute photos and also saved Memere's Christmas tree.
Tim's dad was in the Navy, so we didn't see each other again for a while, when the family returned from being stationed in Hawaii when we were in first grade. When Disney released "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" that winter, 1968, we were all gathered again at Memere's house to watch "The Wonderful World of Disney". Unaware that no one else could do such a thing, I sang "The Tigger Song" after the show was over, having memorized it on that first hearing. Timmy decided that, since I already knew the song, I HAD to be Tigger. Some of my relatives STILL call me "Tigger", because "They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!
But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one". Um, yeah. I can be a little "over the top happy" at a lot of these gatherings......
At the end of that school year, the Bartletts were reassigned, eventually returning to Maine permanently when Tim and I were in sixth grade. While his parents chose a place to buy a house, we were once again classmates, and then Tim was just a few towns over, so we became even closer friends. At the family gatherings, we tended to hang out together, and the year we turned 14, we got into trouble by sharing one of Aunt Dot's chairs and discussing Tolkien. Seems we had our heads too close together, and one of my sisters went out to the parents insisting that Tim and I were kissing.
Yeah. Ok. From this photo that Pepere put into a collage that I eventually ended up with, I guess you could say he was a good looking young man. But seriously? We were practically forehead to forehead, discussing favorite characters and favorite scenes. He had started using the nickname "Gandalf" and walking around saying "Gandalf the Grey was sorta gay, but Gandalf the White is outta sight!" We discussed which character would most represent me, but Tim teasingly told me that, no matter which Tolkien nickname I chose for myself, I would ALWAYS be Tigger.....
Where did anyone get the idea I would be necking with my cousin?
We tried to be a little more careful about where we had our "tete-a-tete" chats, but they still happened - regularly. When my parents weren't able to go to his graduation from high school, my sis and I got dressed up and went to represent. These are the last photos I have of my beloved cousin:
I had just moved in with my college boyfriend at the beginning of my final semester at BCC/UMO and I was trying to decide what I was going to chose as my major for the next semester. I had already lost my "rudder", as my dad, who had always helped me to steer my life, had passed away from cancer in July 1980. Tim was planning on going into the service himself even while acting as the wind in my sails, encouraging me to continue with my education and make something of myself.
Then the phone call came through from my mom. Tim had been at a send off party with a bunch of his friends. His brothers had all climbed into one car to go straight home, but Tim had called "shot gun" for a friend's vehicle, taking another friend home on the way. According to the driver, they hit a small patch of black ice, and he wasn't real familiar with what to do when put into a spin. Timmy was laughing, then there was the thud and all got really quiet. They had hit a tree on the side of the road, breaking the leg of the kid in the back seat and snapping Tim's neck instantly. The wind in my sail was gone at the tender age of 20. For me, still struggling with the grief of watching my father die a slow, painful death, it was the death knell for my college career. Not only could I NOT chose between the acting career I had entered college to pursue and the writing career that I was being encouraged to go for, but NOTHING made sense any more. The two men who had been my entire world, the two male voices who had always listened to my concerns and helped me with their opinions about which direction I should chose were gone....
I still have days, even almost 33 years after I lost him, that I find myself wanting to pick up the phone and call Tim to run some annoying thing past him and get his view on it. I need his silly commentary, his "old soul in a young body" wisdom, and to share a laugh as I get encouraged, once again, to keep going and to keep being that unique person that Tim knew I always was.
Some days, I need to have someone tell me again that, no matter what other name I might chose to go by, I'm still, and always will be, Tigger in Timmy's eyes.
June 14, 2014.
He would have been 53, just like me.
He probably would have HATED "Turn Back Thursday" and this "weepy memorial" to him.
But I DO believe he would have LOVED what Peter Jackson has done with "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". I think of him whenever I hear this tune:
The Song of the Lonely Mountain
So, Tim, there you have it: I still miss you and wish I could spend just one more birthday with you.
With much love,
"Tigger"
No comments:
Post a Comment
This is to COMMENT ON THE BLOG, not TO SELL YOUR STUFF!
If you insist on commenting that "you need this", be prepared to have your comment deleted PARTICULARLY IF YOU ARE ANJU SHUKLA!!