Tag: fiction

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ZELLWOOD’S OWN PATRICIA

This sweet little girl became a 5-year resident of our community and has just as much personality now as she is showing in this grade school picture!

She grew up in Apopka with her parents and a half-brother Carl, 14 years older than her. Carl was on the Blue Darter Football team and had a dog named Baker that followed him to school all through high school. Every day Baker would wait outside the classroom door and follow Carl back home. Sadly, Baker got hit by a car and died. At Carl’s graduation in 1958, there was a chair with a small graduation hat and a sign “BAKER”. THIS is the old Apopka where our friend, and resident Patricia, grew up.

Her mom was born in GA and grew up in West Virginia, and was a Coal Miner’s daughter. Her Dad was born in Ohio. Both parents joined the Masonic and Eastern Star Lodge in Apopka and became Worthy Matron and Patron in the early 60s. Patricia became a Rainbow Girl during that time. Her parents owned a Hamburger/Hot Dog restaurant in downtown Apopka for years.

Patricia went to Apopka Schools and was a Cheerleader at Apopka Memorial High School.

The Mayor of Apopka, John Land, asked her father if she could be The Foliage Queen of 1969 (?), which he agreed. I think she represented the industry well!

Patricia was one of those charmed girls that was lucky enough to wear TWO crowns at once, as she also became Miss Apopka 1970!

I asked her what talent she performed in the competition and she said in those days, gratefully, they only had to model bathing suits and evening gowns. Patricia is not shy telling you she does not sing. But I can tell you from personal experience she has great rhythm and plays a mean tambourine!

Patricia acknowledges she had a wonderful childhood here in Apopka. great parents, great friends, happy life. She played clarinet in the school band, was a Rainbow Girl and in the Paramedics Club. She was lucky enough to be able to do all the things teenage girls do and had parents that supported her dreams.

After High School Patricia went to Cosmetology school, married and had 2 kids, daughter Missi and Son Will. Her Daughter Missi has a daughter Kayli. Patricia’s deceased Stepdaughter gave her another granddaughter, Olivia, who is known to be the apple of her eye.

After divorcing, Patricia went to Nursing School at Winter Garden Hospital and became an RN in 1983. Initially working in the Winter Garden Hospital as a Surgical Scrub Tech. Later she she met her husband, Mike. They worked together for 29 years, until Patricia retired.

I asked Patricia what would surprise people about her and she says she has about 75 pairs of shoes! That certainly surprised me! Where does she put them?! She loves thrifting, searching for “good” purses. A girl needs purses to match the shoes. Patricia has traveled to France, Singapore, Germany and Amsterdam and many more locations. Is more travelling on her list of things to do? Probably!

Patricia was one of the first Hostesses at the Contemporary Hotel and Rock Hudson was one of the guests she was able to meet. It is very hard to be a local and not have served any time at the Mouse!

I actually met Patricia for the first time at Jukebox Bingo at the Whistle Stop. All of us sit in groups, similar to Church, we all have our pew or table and friends gather together. One evening when John and I arrived Patricia was sitting at “our” table. I asked if she was joining us or if she had her own group coming and she said she was joining us. And she has been there ever since! I have gotten to know her and enjoy her company so much. She is fun to be around and has a great sense of humor. She is also one of those “what you see is what you get” girls. Genuine and kind. Still beautiful as ever and always impecibally dressed, I’m sure glad she found her way to “our” table! And am very proud to call her my friend.

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ZELLWOOD PEEPS! MEET TERRY!

Please meet Terry! A very courageous person who responded when I asked who wanted to be my very first interview. She jumped right in and said, “I’ll do it!” and that is courage! And trust! We agreed that Zellwood Peeps would be the name of my interviews, since I am looking for courageous men and women who want their lives shared by me.

I wasn’t sure what to expect talking with Terry as she has always come across as approachable and unapproachable at the same time! And I wasn’t sure what questions to ask; we even joked about this before we met. Since I am not an interviewer, we just chatted about life in general. I didn’t want to have a set of questions that seemed forced or programed. I just wanted to get to know Terry. She was so much fun to be with it made the interview easy.

This is Terry and her hubby Jerry. Jerry and Terry, they go together like peas and carrots, or peanut butter and jelly or … well you get the idea. It’s hard to imagine the one without the other. Believe it or not, this is a Match.com success story! They have been together ten years and married eight. Their first date was a Bachman Turner Overdrive concert which seems fitting since they both have a love of music. If they don’t, they are great fakers!

Terry is all about family; she has 3 children and would love a better connection with them. She also has 3 sisters, and many nieces and nephews. When you see them all together you can see the closeness they have. It is enviable for sure. There are family events such as gambling trips to Vegas or other venues where everyone participates. They are also a family that loves games, all kinds. Terry’s living room is full of games, video, pinball, board, you name it they play it. Terry was telling me about a dice game in each of her and her sibling’s homes that they throw money into a bucket and roll dice. IF you match all 5 you win half the bucket … the game isn’t so remarkable, it is that each of their homes are a part of it. A family thing. If there is a party with a costume theme, you can bet both Terry and Jerry will be in the mix dressed for the occasion.

Terry’s Florida connection started when she was young, her grandparents lived in St Pete. Here is a picture of her there. She raised her 3 kids in Missouri and then moved to Clearwater to be closer to her parents.

When Terry and Jerry moved to Zellwood it didn’t take them long to become a noticeable part of our community. Terry would not agree that she shines on her own, but she does. Also, when they moved to Zellwood it didn’t take long for her sisters to follow. Three of them now have homes in Zellwood and I won’t be surprised if the 4th one doesn’t show up soon!

Whatever event is going on in our community they are involved. Jukebox Bingo, Trivia, Cornhole. Terry loves golf, she says she isn’t that good and is surprised when people ask her to join them for a round. My guess is she doesn’t give herself enough credit! Terry works part time in the Pro Shop and has done extra duty as the cart girl on occasion. I would say she is game for just about anything once. Her karaoke can be remarkable and off color, but it is always fun. I would not dare her to attempt something because I don’t think she would ever let someone get the upper hand.

Terry has a very kind heart, even though she doesn’t like to show it. Personally, I remember a time when John and I had both had surgery a few days from each other and neither of us were allowed to drive for a couple weeks. I needed to get my nails done in the worst way. I posted on Facebook if anyone was going could I please go with, and Terry responded immediately. I don’t even thing she “needed” to go, but she took me and got her toes done too. That’s the kind of generosity she shows, quiet and real.

This is Terry’s Senior picture. Most surprising thing about Terry is she was a Drum Major! (It must have rubbed off on Jerry since he is the leader of the band on Tuesday nights for Jukebox bingo!) For someone who doesn’t really like to draw attention to herself, being front and center is surprising. But given her personality I’m sure she was great at it. Tery also told me she used to teach Sunday School and directed a summer VBS (Vacation Bible School) for a large Methodist church. She only pretends to be a bad girl!

Travelling is a big part of their lives, cruises for sure. They have done most of the Caribbean, Alaska, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Malta, Slovenia. The Northeast Coast of the US and Canada was their latest trip. I remember Terry being very excited to go to Pompei, a bucket list item. Her interests are as diverse as she is.

Terry likes to be in the background, not calling much attention to herself, but she has a wicked sense of humor and sometimes that attention just comes whether you want it or not! Even though she claims to prefer solitude, don’t be afraid to approach her. She really won’t bite your head off, or maybe she will!

Posted on in Daily Life, Uncategorized

SENIOR PUBERTY

If we remember back to when we entered puberty, we received a lot of information about what our body was doing to us. I don’t know how other families handled these things, but my mother always said GO ASK YOUR FATHER. That was most uncomfortable for a 12- or 13-year-old girl. I didn’t want to talk to Dad about my “monthly visitor” or any other things of that nature. Dad was a teaser and was not a quiet talker so if he knew, EVERYONE knew. It was best to just not discuss it. So, that was how we grew up.

Dad used to run, long before it was fashionable. He was a referee for Jr High and High School basketball and football games, so he had to run to keep his stamina up. People would stop him and offer rides all the time thinking it was an emergency, he never wore sneakers, he wore his loafers to run. But if us girls needed “girly supplies” he would include the 7-11 on his route and come running up the road carrying our supplies, no bag needed. So humiliating! Those Weinar girls!

Consequently, I never learned to talk about girly things of any kind with any person at all, certainly not my parents, sisters or friends. Even talking to a doctor was too embarrassing, I always just pretended I knew what they were talking about.

This behavior really does still exist in me today, God love John, he has somehow learned to figure out what is going on when I don’t discuss things. He really does have a lot of patience!

As we age, of course our body changes again and all kinds of weird things start happening again. I don’t know about you people, but I don’t want to talk about that stuff either. Getting out of my comfort zone is what is best for me so talk about it I will. If you already know all this stuff you can pass on today’s reading, if you are shy and humiliated by all this stuff READ ON! Don’t be afraid, I am not going to talk about the most personal stuff, I’m going to talk about skin. There is plenty of time for other topics, I am not quite THAT daring yet!

I have always had oily skin, or HAVE I? Since Mom didn’t talk about this stuff, I don’t know if it was oily or it was oily because it needed moisturizer, and I never used it. I’m fairly sure Mom never used any girly stuff, she never wore make-up, as far as I remember, only lipstick. So she wouldn’t have been a good advisor. My older sister always had a beautiful complexion, but I never asked what she did. She didn’t share her make-up, so I was pretty sure she wasn’t going to share that info either. She is 5 years older than me, we shared a room all our lives, and that was all we shared. We didn’t touch each other’s stuff.

Consequently, at 69 and a half (LOL) my skin sucks. I have blotches, bumps, pores, red dots, and hair everywhere but where it should be. Since I don’t talk about this stuff, I do not know how to get rid of it. Or what is wrong with me that I keep getting more and more of it. I have bought machines that are supposed to do the trick, but they do not really do what they promise they will do. They sort of do stuff but not really. (I will not name brands since they don’t work for me, only if they DO work for me!)

Enter Dermatology. I have been going to various dermatologists for several years and they burn or freeze or cut off things I don’t want on my body whether I can see them or not. I was a fair-haired teenager, always sun burned, rarely tanned and I am absolutely paying for the sins of my youth. Although I’m really glad we didn’t know back then because we sure had lots of fun in the sun. All this skin cancer stuff has taken the fun out of beaches and pools in the summer.

In July when I went for my 6-month checkup, my new Dermatology provider is Kim Pham, FNP-BC. I have gone to the same office for quite some time and the specialist kept changing and the “feel” of the office was sort of down. When I went to the check-up everything was different. All the faces were new and the happy, which makes ME happy. When I go to a doctor and the office is glum I prefer not to go. I did all the preliminary check in stuff and was not in the waiting room very long at all. BONUS! When Kim gave me my skin exam I really felt like I mattered, it wasn’t routine to her, she asked me questions and cared. What a difference! She showed me where my skin had issues that could be fixed, not with a big expensive treatment but with a moisturizer that I could by at Walmart! Seriously! She ever taught me how to apply it with tap,tap,tap and not rubbing it in. And she did not try to up-sell me products I didn’t need. I felt very comfortable with her and then I began to ask her questions. What are these stupid bumps? What are these red dots? Why does hair sprout everywhere but where it should? And she was very professional with her answers, didn’t make me feel silly or stupid. And I trusted her! Amazing. Especially for me. Then I dove in and asked if she did any treatments for skin issues. And how much did they cost and what should I have?

I bought the lotions she told me to buy, sunscreen and moisturizer over the counter stuff and used them for 2 weeks. She promised I would see a difference before I went back to her and guess what?! I DID! A huge difference. I also did get a treatment for my skin that was very reasonable and is helping with my other issues. She called me to check on me, making sure I had no side effects from the treatment. Kim is the ultimate professional and genuinely wants to help us resolve our issues and feel better about ourselves too.

She has several different cosmetic treatment packages, depending on what you might want or need. What I needed might not be what you need. If you ever wondered, don’t be afraid to call and ASK her. I wanted soft skin and less fuzz; you may want Botox. All I can say is she will be fair and honest with you and make you feel very special. Kim office is in Apopka off Rock Springs Road.

And, by the way, she is a medical professional. This also made me feel much more comfortable. She wasn’t going to bleach my hair, cut my toenails and wax my lip. That was important to me too. I do not receive any kickbacks by writing this, I just am passing on my life experience, as usual, when I find something that matters to me. Men and women alike face these situations. It is so nice when you find someone that makes you feel comfortable and not silly! Kim is definitely that person for me!