kathynorthup

25 Random Thoughts Survey 

1) I'm of Italian, Portuguese, and Swamp Yankee descent, and born and raised in Rhode Island. My mother, who is Italian and Portuguese, raised me. So I prefer chicken escarole soup and marsala bread over johnnycakes.

2) I was brought up in the country and I was raised to draw fresh water from a well, till the soil and plant a vegetable garden, hunt for pussywillows and blueberry bushes in the forest, and run through wind-dried sheets that my mother freshly hung in the morning sun.

3) My favorite color is red.

4) When I was a little girl, I had ballerina wallpaper on my bedroom wall. They were all little white girls dressed in pink tutus. I thought the ballerinas should look more diverse instead of all looking the same. So I colored them all different colors with magic markers. My mother was not too happy with me.

5) The first person that I ever voted for was Jesse Jackson.

6) My favorite books that I read when I was young were The Feminine Mystique and The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

7) I love to draw portraits and the human figure in charcoal and pastels. I haven't drawn in 12 years. Some day I will return to it.

8) When I was in the 7th grade a schoolmate in chorus told me that I sang "horrible". I stopped singing after that. I didn't sing again for 37 years. Then I felt inspired to sing when I was in church five years ago. I sang a solo in front of the entire congregation. After hearing my story and listening to my song, they stood up and applauded. I smiled and thanked God for renewing my spirit with song. 

9) My mother always said that I should write a book about my life. Instead I write this blog.

10) My favorite movie is a 1948 fantasy movie called A Portrait of Jennie. Other favorites are A Beautiful Mind, The Color Purple, A Patch of Blue, Bridges of Madison County, Somewhere In Time, Philadelphia, Playing for Time, The Hours, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Women, Mr. Magorian's Wonder Emporium, Carousel Elf.

11) I love to hear the heavy down pour of rain against my windows and run in the rain with my daughter while we splash in the puddles on our street.

12) I love freshly made blueberries and vanilla yogurt for breakfast. And baby carrots dipped in hummus with a glass of seltzer water for lunch.

13) I love to build a family of snowmen after a snow storm and dress them in assorted costumes.

14) I don't ask for directions when I am lost while driving.

15) The dream of my youth was to be a mother of five children and to work as a Special Education
Teacher.

16) I think the sound of foreign languages, spoken or sung, is very beautiful to listen to.

17) My favorite toy was a big doll that came with a defect on the back of its head. I loved hugging it to make it feel better.

18) I have a fear of heights that includes flying, cruising, bridges, and the like. But I have been on over 30 cruises, travel by plane, and drive over bridges with my eyes open.

19) When I was young my crushes were Superman, Batman, Captain Kirk & Mr. Gee, my sixth grade teacher.

20) I can't tell a joke.

21) Especially like Bossa Nova, Jazz, Opera/Classical Crossover, and Pop but enjoy all kinds of music including some rap.

22)  I remember when I was in first grade, an elementary school teacher told my mother that I should be a social worker or counselor because I listened to all the other kids' problems and helped them with their scrapes when they fell. Elementary school was where I learned I was compassionate. Seventh grade was when I realized I was a leader of change. I organized a march to the school administration office so that the girls in school would be granted the right to wear pants instead of dresses to middle school. As a result, we were granted that right. High school was when I realized I was both and needed to do everything possible to graduate and leave.

23) When I was 19 years old, I was told by a team of doctors and surgeons that I was going to die within a matter of months.  They saved my life, but I was left without the ability to have children.

24) My life began again when my sister Wendy had a child for me by way of surrogate birthing 12 years ago.

25) Christiana, my 12 year old daughter, is my world.