I've Been Tagged

...by my friend and fellow Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild member, Jeanne. This tag requires me to tell 7 things you may not know about me, so here goes:

1. Most people who know me now don't know I had scoliosis (curvature of the spine) when I was 12; wore a back brace for 18 months, then had spinal fusion surgery at 14. I was in a full body cast for 9 months; flat on my back for the first three, then had to learn how to be vertical again, bit by bit over the following 6 months. I attended school through an intercom system, faithfully carried from class to class (I was in 9th grade) by my oldest friend, Lynne (we met in kindergarten, and are still friends to this day).

2. Though I live in North Carolina now, I definitely consider myself a Northerner: I was born on Long Island, NY, went to college in Massachusetts, and lived there for over 20 years before coming south.

3. I don't have the typical Long Island accent, except on certain words, like "coffee" and "talk". And despite my mother's love for it, I never picked up the Boston accent. No 'paahk' or 'baahthroom' for me!

4. I was born left handed. My mother switched me at age 7, worried I'd have to use left-handed scissors and irons (oh, if she only knew how seldom I iron!). I found out when I was an adult that my father had been left handed too, and that his mother had switched him as a child.

So, it didn't surprise me at all that my son is left handed. I wouldn't dream of switching him.

5. I still paint and color with my left hand. In fact, I often switch hands while painting or drawing, depending upon what part of the piece I'm working on. When I teach drawing, kids sometimes notice this, but more often, they don't.

6. Like my mother and grandmother, I grow African violets. As a friend says, they are lovely girls which thrive with just the right care and feeding (don't we all?!).

7. I love word games, and play a number of them online. If it's true that you can remain young by exercising your brain through word games, I'll be youthful for a long, long time!

I won't tag other blogs formally, but if you're reading this and have a blog, try the 7 things challenge...it's fun.