AMAZON

Thursday, December 18, 2008

7 (More) Things that I Don’t Think You Know About Me


Jessica tagged me, so here goes:

 

  • I once wrote a (very long) rap song and used it as a sermon. I can remember no parts of it.

 

  • When I was two years old I had a nasty reaction to sulfa drugs and have been listing it as an allergy all of my life. Dr. Mike prescribed me a medication that contains sulfa. I hesitated taking it until I checked out all of the possible reactions. Monday I made the leap; this far I have had no adverse reaction. Therefore, I do not believe that, after 60 years, I am still allergic to sulfa.

 

  • When I was in high school the baseball coach nick-named me “Triple-Temple” because I hit more triples than anyone else on the team.

 

  • My maternal relatives “force fed” me when I was a child. My grandmother supposedly said “Skinny babies die” and my mother and aunts then took it  upon themselves to make me eat. They would, for example, hold my nose closed and when I opened my mouth to breathe, put a spoonful of whatever in it and hold my mouth shut until I swallowed it. I have had problems with obesity since I was 5 years old.

 

  • When I was about 15, a buddy named Ted and I won the Louisville Junior Doubles Bowling Tournament. I misplaced the trophy many years ago.

 

  • Alex has recently developed the habit of sitting in front of my computer until I bribe him with kitty treats to move to another part of my desk.


  • I had my tonsils removed twice. The first time was by traditional surgery. When the tonsils grew back, they were “burned out” using x-ray treatments. That is (thank God) a procedure no longer used. Because it was used on me, I must have a thyroid scan done every five years due to the possibility of developing thyroid cancer.

16 comments:

  1. Dear Nick ~~ I am glad you liked
    The story about The Atheists - it was a nice story. Enjoy the
    special time together. A happy and holy Christmas when to you,
    Take csre, my friend. Regards,Merle

    ReplyDelete
  2. I always like learning more about people, so I enjoyed reading your answers.

    It's interesting to learn of your force-feeding and the x-ray treatment of your tonsils. Not so funny things that we do to "help" others...

    That Alex... he'll do anything for attention, huh?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting tidbits. Thanks for sharing, Nick.
    Handsome photo of Alex.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, that's a very interesting set of facts about you. The force-feeding is appalling. I know they meant the best, but it sounds like torture.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Merle: That you. The Atheists was an excellent story.

    Carol: Thank you. Yep, in retrospect some of the things that have happened in my life haven’t been so nice. But, that’s life ain’t it!

    Alex, on the other hand, is such a rascal that he is always entertaining me. For example, he just demanded (with a claw in my butt) that I accompany him to his dry food dish where he clearly demonstrated by selectively picking out and munching that he likes the red bits of food but not the brown.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jessica: You are most welcome. Thank you for tagging me to participate.

    Alex believes that all photos of him are handsome!


    Squirl : You know, I’ve done so many of this type of meme that I have having trouble thinking up facts about me that I haven’t shared. Yes, force feeding a child—especially one as young as I was—is appalling. Of course, I didn’t learn that until many years later and I don’t believe that my mother and aunts ever recognized that it should not have been done.


    Angel: Maybe. But the way I look at it, if they were “mean” to me, they did it with love and good intentions.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nick, I can relate to the food thing because my grandmother used food as cure all for everything. Here "Eat this it will make you feel better" I was a sick little kid and they were always trying to get me to eat. I never forced my sons to eat. It has taken me a life time to recover from this. People do a lot of things in the name of love.

    Good picture of Alex, and thanks for sharing your life with us.

    ReplyDelete
  8. If only parenting came with manuals. I look back on my own parenting skills(??) and wonder at times that my kids survived some of my goofy decisions. I think I'm doing better with my 4-legged kids.

    I love the picture of Alex, BTW.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'd like to know what in your grandmother's past led her to believe that babies must be force-fed. I bet there's a tragic story behind that.

    I didn't know sulfa drugs still existed. I just assumed they had all been replaced with more modern alternatives.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I enjoyed the meme.
    So many interesting facts about you. Your cat is as smart as our dog at getting bribed.
    Sulfa drugs saved my life when I was little.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I was hoping to hear a recording of your rap song! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  12. Finding Pam: I can identify with your childhood situation completely. You’re describing my mother’s family! Food was considered happy stuff. My grandmother died when I was about 5 years old, but her 6 surviving daughters—my mother and aunts—carried on the tradition of using food as a cure-all.

    Lynilu: Unfortunately, too many of us were parented as our parents were parented and have passed that on to our kids. I am thankful that I entered therapy when my sons were still young. Of course, I became a social worker after my return from the army and trusted therapy. Otherwise, my sons might be as obese as I am.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thomas: I really don’t know what in my grandmother's past led her to believe in force-feeding children. Perhaps it was her generation or where she was raised: she was born around 1880 and lived in a small German village until she came to the United States. I rather suspect that the infant mortality rate was rather high in those days.

    This medication, Furosemide, contains sulfa as one of its ingredients; evidently enough sulfa to trigger the warning on the pharmacy’s computer.

    Dr. John: Thank you. Alex is quite a manipulation; my old dog, Muffin, was, too. Or, perhaps I am just easily manipulated?

    The Lone Beader: I would record and present that rap sermon if I could remember it!

    ReplyDelete
  14. LOL @ at your MEME banner, too funny! We all do them yet we dispise it when we're tagged, loved your answers :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. We like to learn things about people we really like. We really like YOU!

    ReplyDelete