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Friday, 05 March 2010

The Shiny Maroon Radio

By Lyn Burnstine of The Lynamber Times

My very own first radio was a high school graduation present from my parents. A small portable one, it was my ticket to an expanded world. I remember lying with it on my pillow with my ear pressed up to the speaker so as not to disturb anyone. The wonder of having music to listen to in my own room, late, late at night if I chose, made me feel as if I could never again be lonely.

It’s hard to imagine being so excited about a little plastic radio in this day of TVs, VCRs, CDs and so many other remarkable sources of sound, many of which I can't even identify.

I had few new store-bought treasures in my growing-up years. I did appreciate most of the exquisite things my mother made; that custom established in me a lifelong habit of making gifts by hand. But that radio, because it was shiny and new, got the most tender loving care imaginable. I polished it with a soft cloth every time a dust speck dared to come near it.

When I married, the radio became part of a pitifully small dowry that I brought to the marriage. Everything I owned - except for winter clothes since I was going to live in Mississippi - traveled south with me, my parents and a small kitten, in an ordinary-sized sedan.

My husband, who had no such background in valuing simple things (his childhood impoverishment had been emotional, not financial), carelessly broke it while trying to make a repair. It broke my heart, and was a harbinger of things to come.

His approach to fixing things could be characterized as “if it doesn’t fit, force it” and “if it breaks, throw it away.” I could not have foreseen that the children and I would someday be deemed not worth fixing and be thrown away, too.

There have been other radios since (and other men, might I add), but none as precious as that shiny maroon one.

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[INVITATION: All elders, 50 and older, are welcome to submit stories for this blog. They can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, etc. Instructions for submitting are here.]

Posted by Ronni Bennett at 02:30 AM | Permalink | Email this post