I know Earth Day is behind us, I planned on
delivering this story to you on that day, but obviously that didn’t happen.
I am the second girl in a line of three girls. (Dad,
notice I said second not middle.) Naturally I received a lot of hand-me-downs
from my older sister. The problem was she is a lot taller than me, making me
appear as if I was in a constant state of playing dress-up.
What does
this story have to do with Earth Day?
Well, there is one specific hand-me-down
that is forever sketched in my memory. A big green parka, yes kids, we use to
call them parkas. This green dream had sleeves that were about a forearm to
long for my arms, rolling this beauty up was not option, the puffiness
prevented such innovations. The buttons were different colors and I seem to
recall some purple adornments on the front. Here’s the kicker. On the sleeve of
this parka was a big patch. The patch had a blue and green earth globe, the
wording around the globe exclaimed, “Save the Earth.” This “Save the Earth”
parka has made its place in our Phippen Family History. My older sister’s
defense is always the same. “What? I was into recycling.” Well, evidently so
was I. As a child I saved this earth one hand-me-down at a time.
Happy Belated Earth Day.
