the help

as i was faced with the challenge of dressing miss mollie up this morning for her first visit to see santa claus, i was reminded of a book i finished a few months ago. the help. the book was set in the city i grew up in, the neighborhood i grew up in, and on the street i grew up on. i have a signed copy, by the way, if anyone wants to borrow. anyway, the pain i felt as i was preparing mollie for this outing astounded me. I WAS DRESSED THIS WAY EVERYDAY OF MY CHILDHOOD. mollie, on the other hand, wears her pj's all day, most days.


the sweet memory of our first of many housekeepers, thomasine, swept through my mind. what a neat lady. one of her many quotes is one i will never forget: as my mom chose from my closet what i was to wear that day (a handmade smocked dress, patent leather shoes, and a huge bow, i'm sure), thomasine looked puzzled and declared impatiently, "mrs. v, i don't understand why i got to do this day after day, laura's not going nowhere but down in the kitchen...". what a profound statement. i think all modern mom's can appreciate that.


another memory that popped in my head was from another housekeeper named lucile(or as i called her, wuuucile). i was probably 3 or 4 years old at christmas time. when my parents asked me on christmas eve, "laura, guess who's coming tonight?" (meaning santa)...i answered, "wuuucile?".

back to the help, i am not to be judged based on the characters in the book. it was set before my time or my mother's. we all used the same bathrooms etc. in fact, big ann has been with us 25 years, so that should shed some light on how close we are to our "help." she is literally like a another mother to me. also, the characters are based on real people but their names were changed. for example, patricia vandevender has my maiden name but i am not related to her, nor do i know her.

anyway, more importantly--what book should i be reading next??

the santa visit was worth the trouble