Lisa D’Angelo
Searching through some old boxes in the basement, looking for a specific photo album, I accidentally stumbled across my old Rolodex. It was wedged tightly along the side of the box. I yanked it out and sat down on the cold tiled basement floor. The alphabet tabs, now tattered and tired, were a perky periwinkle blue that stood at attention when new. Flipping through the Rolodex was a flashback of my “then life.” Each entry tells a story.
Friends, neighbors, retail stores, (which no longer exist), divorced couples, kids camp addresses, babysitters numbers, favorite restaurants, school numbers, relatives, and so on.
A fair amount of the entries had scratched out addresses with a new one entered, then that one was scratched out with yet another address added.
Starting with the A’s, Adams driving school. My teenage daughter came home after her first lesson. She told us that her male adult instructor asked her many inappropriate questions while placing his hand on her upper thigh. Immediately, I jumped into my car and drove to their offices. Needless to say, I was a rabid mom.
Listed under the B’s, Dr. Benuck, my kids pediatrician He had several numbers entered, office number, after hours number and his pager number. I remember calling him from Hawaii when my youngest child got pneumonia while there for my brother’s wedding.
Continuing on to the C’s, I came across Dr. Cassiday, the first therapist for my troubled teen, Mrs. Crowley, the Latin tutor, at the bottom left corner, in parenthesis, I scribbled, “$26.00 for one hour.” I wonder what today’s rate would be.
Under the G’s, Pat Gregory, Oh yeah! I remember Pat, She was always such a ‘hoot’ and fun to be with. I wonder what ever happened to her.
Moving on to the L's was this entry, "The Lilac Tree”, a support group for women dealing with divorce. I paused as I was flooded with emotions of that uncertain time in my life.
Under the P’s were Dave and Sue Peterson, my longtime neighbors on Lincoln St., both dead and gone. Sue from cancer and Dave from a freak accident.
Now turning my attention towards the end of the Rolodex, Listed under the W’s was Williams Ski Haus.They had a very popular ski club for kids where they’d take them to various ski hills during the winter to teach them how to ski. My youngest participated for years and that’s where he learned to ski and snowboard. He still enjoys the sport today.
Lastly were the abandoned Y and Z. Under Y was the YMCA. where my kids and I would go constantly as they were growing up, oftentimes feeling like our second home. And finally Z. Zier meats is the “go to” place for any special cut of meat. Each year I’d get our Thanksgiving turkey from them.
Some entries were written in my now deceased ex-husband's handwriting. He always had such nice cursive writing.
Who knew that a simple Rolodex held one's life story? But there you have it.