The Checkerboard Quilt: A Memory Collage of My 1960S Childhood

By Susanne Kessaris

Susanne Kessaris shares rich memories from her childhood spending happy summers with her grandparents. They modeled frugality and contentment through simple pastimes and activities. The books title recalls the hours she spent making checkerboard quilt squares with her grandmother. Susannes childhood was filled with many adventures: exploring jungle attractions in southern Florida, hunting for treasures in her grandparents basement, bug and bird-watching explorations as well as plant identification forays in her grandparents garden. Her imagination expanded through such creative playtimes.

Memories of these special times awoke the authors passion to raise awareness of how our modern overemphasis on technology has begun to affect relational and developmental growth in children. Her book offers activity ideas for children as an alternative to the use of digital gadgets for entertainment. In this memory collage, she shares some of her many exploits through her gift of storytelling.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jan 28, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532011078

Susanne Kessaris

Susanne Kessaris, currently a bookkeeper in the family’s real estate appraisal business, has a bachelor’s degree in recreational therapy with a psychology emphasis from UNC–Chapel Hill. She wrote Bagpipes, Planes, and Strings: A Woman’s Journey in Letting Go, available on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. You can read Susanne’s blogs about gardening, decorating, and crafting on www.myfavoritepasttimes.wordpress.com, or follow her on Facebook. She and her husband have two grown children and live in South Carolina.

Book preview

THE

CHECKERBOARD

QUILT

A Memory Collage of My 1960s Childhood

Susanne Kessaris

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The Checkerboard Quilt

A Memory Collage of My 1960s Childhood

Copyright © 2017 Susanne Kessaris.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5320-1108-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-1107-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016918671

iUniverse rev. date: 01/27/2017

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 My Maternal Grandparents

Chapter 2 My Parents

Chapter 3 The Quilting Lesson

Chapter 4 The Ghost

Chapter 5 A Rare Find

Chapter 6 Creative Toys

Chapter 7 Family Reunions

Chapter 8 Grandmother’s Famous Food

Chapter 9 My Great-Grandmother

Chapter 10 My Little Grandparents

Chapter 11 Granddad, the Hunter

Chapter 12 Grandmother, the Nature Lover and Fashion Queen

Chapter 13 The Hairy, Scary Spider

Chapter 14 The Dogs

Chapter 15 The Wild Baby Rabbit

Chapter 16 The Big Horse

Chapter 17 My Near Drowning

Chapter 18 A Lesson in Faith

Chapter 19 The Political Atmosphere of the 1960s

Chapter 20 My Parents’ Example of Contentment

Chapter 21 Life in Coral Gables

Chapter 22 Starting School

Chapter 23 Contests in School

Chapter 24 Childhood Illnesses and Maladies

Chapter 25 My Broken Arm

Chapter 26 Tourist Attractions in Florida

Chapter 27 The Estate Sale

Chapter 28 Family Treasures

Chapter 29 The Thefts

Chapter 30 The Dream

Chapter 31 Grandmother’s Best Christmas Present

Chapter 32 Good Genes

Chapter 33 Home Again

Chapter 34 The Star on the Mountain

Chapter 35 Children’s Playtime Today

Conclusion

For Amanda and Ethan.

Dedicated to the loving memory of my grandparents so that my children and others can share in happy times when I was young and cherish their own innocent childhood days.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

—Philippians 4:12–13 NIV

PREFACE

I am a product of my environment and those who were around me when I was growing up. I was surrounded by people with artistic talent. In my family were musicians, artists, gardeners, cooks, quilters, needle crafters, an architect, and a poet. These people took years honing their crafts. I couldn’t help but be influenced in some way by all that creativity. It sparked in me a quest to find my own form of artistic expression. The elemental phase of expression began in my childhood through different forms of play. My intent in writing about my childhood is to model how children can find outlets for creative expression in simple, uncomplicated ways. I believe that each child has been given a measure of talent. It must be nurtured if it is to develop. The more complicated life becomes through technological disruptions, especially in early development, the less likely children will find time for creative expression.

My daughter is a special education teacher in an elementary school. She constantly bemoans the fact that she has to fight for children’s already unfocused attention even more in the presence of digital devices. It is becoming increasingly challenging for teachers to have uninterrupted teaching time because of distractions from cell phones and tablets. It was once a mandate to keep these devices out of the hands of the children during the day unless they had special permission.

I have enjoyed revisiting my childhood. I hope that you will also appreciate some adventures from my past and be inspired to find imagination yielding sparks for your little sponges of wonder.

My special thanks to my husband, Ken, and my mom and dad for their encouragement to write my story. Thanks also to my parents for helping me to remember certain events as they actually happened.

INTRODUCTION

T ime for our children is fleeting, so how we spend it is very important. While we are in the midst of making bottles, changing diapers, and cleaning up toys, the clock of childhood begins ticking. Soon our children learn to walk and talk, and they begin to grow up at almost lightning speed. Precious time that we spend cradling them and singing lullabies soon dissipates and grows into a challenge as we wonder what to do next to keep them interested and entertained. The temptation is to plunk them down in front of the television so that we can spend a few quiet moments to ourselves. However, with the shortage of wholesome entertainment, we find ourselves scrambling for other alternatives. We would like to send them outside to play, but gone are more innocent days when parents did not have to worry whether their children would be safe playing unsupervised for long periods of time outdoors. So what are parents today supposed to do? All too often, they resort to technological devices within easy reach, which they have become accustomed to using every day. Their allure has a very powerful draw, and before we realize it, young children succumb to the mind-dulling hum of computers and smartphones. The overuse of these devices most certainly eats away at precious playtime during the most critical years of development when children should be exploring more mind-broadening endeavors.

Scientists, artists, and inventors in history spent time developing their imaginations in unique ways as children. Einstein spent hours mesmerized by ways to build houses with cards.¹ His developing genius was further expanded when he was given a pocket compass and discovered that no matter which way he turned it, it always pointed north. Edison learned about the world around him largely because of his great enthusiasm for reading.² His curious nature was displayed when he tried to hatch some goose eggs by sitting on them. Orville and Wilbur Wright got interested in aviation and began creating their own aircraft after receiving a toy helicopter from their father.³ Amelia Earhart displayed her