What I Read & Thought And Perhaps Evidence of Old School UnFriending?

I still have much to share about our trip to Spain and Portugal and I don’t know about you, but I become bored talking about the same thing. Therefore I assume that if I’m bored, you might be too? I will forge on because I really need to document it for my own prosperity, but for today, let’s change the subject.

What I Read And Enjoyed

The Magnificent Lives Of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki. A girlfriend said I needed to read this and I’m glad I did. Overall I enjoyed reading about Marjorie and her life, but mostly I think it was because she spent time in the *’hood where I was born and raised. Before reading the book, I didn’t connect Marjorie Post and Post Cereals together, cause I’m bright like that. It’s fiction, based on real facts.

Within the first chapter, I paused and asked the Coach: “Didn’t the Post family live in Palm Beach? I remember your mom doing some work on their estate or at least mentioning it many years ago.” (My MIL was a professional seamstress who worked for a few Interior Decorators in Palm Beach)

*Marjorie built and lived in Mar A Lago on Palm Beach; I/we grew up in West Palm Beach where the regular, blue collar folk lived.

Marjorie had a very interesting life, and the only thing I didn’t love about the book was the emphasis on her husbands/male relationships; but she did have quite a few and I suppose they took up a great deal of her life, as men do.

But, you guys should ALL be thankful for Marjorie Merriweather Post because SHE is the one who founded the hospital where I was born. If not for her, I could have been born in a field somewhere in West Palm Beach and I could have been even more feral.

Demi Moore, Inside Out. You know, you can get an idea in your head about a celebrity by what you’ve seen here and there, or what you’ve read in the past, but this was eye opening. Demi is not who I thought she was going to be; she is not just what People magazine puts in print. She conquered quite a bit of adversity; neglectful parents, sexual abuse, eating disorders and generally not feeling like enough. SHE’S JUST LIKE US. She tried to keep her personal life personal, but the media wouldn’t allow for that. I really enjoyed her book and I have a new-found appreciation for her.

The Good House by Ann Leary. This was a great (listen) read for me. At first the narrators voice annoyed me a bit, but once you started to learn about her character, it made sense. Hildy is a mother, grandmother and Real Estate Agent who is struggling with alcohol; her tales of going clean while living in the same small town that she grew up in with the same childhood characters is quite comical.

::LEFT TURN::

CURSES!

I’m still on a quest to clean out our house. I started (again) to go through old photos that have been handed down to me and sort the keepers and rid myself of the duplicates. I’ve also started a pile of old pics for donation, when I have no clue who the people are.

Why donate and not toss? I’ve seen where some people collect old-timey pics and I want to help them.

Imagine my surprise when I came across this one. I have no clue who these people are, as they are not directly related to moi, but this is right up there with me crossing out the faces of bullies in my HS yearbooks.

The pic most likely came from my Grandma’s house, so I’m wondering if that chick did my G’ma wrong? Maybe she was a hussy who tried to bed my G’pa. Or perhaps she was a hapless bridge player who refused to keep up with her debts. I’d give my left pinkie toe to know the back story!

Have you read any of the above books?

What do you think the scratched-out lady did to my G’ma?

XO

29 thoughts on “What I Read & Thought And Perhaps Evidence of Old School UnFriending?”

  1. I knew about Ms. Post and the history of Mar-a-Lago ( it means sea to lake) because we used to visit relatives in Boyton Beach when I was young and always visited West Palm. She was quite a gal.
    As for the picture, I don’t know what the crossed out woman did to grandma… but look at that poor boy cringing at her feet. Maybe we should ask what horrible thing she did to him.
    😉

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  2. My grandparents used to winter in West Palm Beach. We’d go visit them once in a while in their summer home–a mobile home in a trailer park! LOL We were obviously not The Quality like Ms. Post.

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    1. Nance, I spent quite a bit of my youth in trailer parks (my maternal Grandpa & my Dad’s for a while) so I’m well versed in Trailer Park Life! I don’t know that I would have crossed paths with Marjorie or her friends, but perhaps I could have with you and yours, which would have been wonderful.

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  3. Ooooooh I am v. intrigued by the mystery of the crossed out woman!! The scribble looks particularly hateful. My guess is that the scribbled woman died and the man in the photo remarried, but his new wife could never live up to the dead wife’s angelic spirit. She felt consumed by jealousy toward the old wife, and furious that she was constantly compared to her. The kids never warmed up to her, the husband never loved her as much as his former wife, and the mother-in-law! Well! Of course the new wife was forever falling short. Her husband insisted on keeping all these photos of his dead wife and one day the new wife snapped and scribbled her rival out of the picture. That violation was unforgivable and her husband killed her. She was never good enough anyway.

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    1. Hells bells! I think you’ve solved the mystery, and made me laugh hysterically while doing so!

      Suzanne, you need to write the whole story out and get it published. Please!

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    2. Whoa! Your story, Suzanne, reminds me of John Le Carre’s advice “The cat sat on the mat is not a story; the cat sat on the dog’s mat is the beginning of an exciting story”… you saw the dog’s mat! Way to go!

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  5. There is a show on Hulu I think called “The foods that made America” and they talk about Marjorie Post. It’s an interesting show if you want to check it out, That scratched out face on the picture is too funny! Could be any number of reasons why!

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  7. Have you read any of the above books? I’ve not read any of the books but have at least heard of the first two. I need to read more biographies and memoirs. Especially the first one. 

    What do you think the scratched-out lady did to my G’ma? No answer but your question would make a wonderful first line in a murder mystery novel. I have lots of old photos like the ones you have, too. If you figure out where to donate them, I’d love to know. I’m clueless.

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    1. I’ll let you know what I decide to do with the old photos of whoever they are and wherever they might be doing wherever. 😅

      Biographies and memories have always been enjoyable to me, but for some reason I’d been reading more fiction lately; must be a phase.

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  8. These books sound really interesting. I’ve not read or heard of any of them. I love memoirs. It’s my fav genre. I have no clue why Bad Lady got her face scratched out, but it does make one wonder. I inherited several photo albums from my uncle and my cousin and my uncle passed away in the last few years. My sister Ann told me, “You can just throw those away, you know. No one wants them.” I mean, clearly there is no one to hand them down to, but does she have to be so callus? The man had not been dead a month. Sheesh. I do love old photos and I often wonder about the people’s back story.

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  9. I agree with Ally. It’s got the makings of a great plot: woman finds old scratched-out pic, sets out to solve the mystery. Learns unsettling truths about her family in the process. Maybe she finds out she’s descended from a coven of witches, that her mom was an illegitimate love child and there’s a curse on every female in the family who lives to see the age of 30? I’m just spitballing here, but this is rich.

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  10. I’ve not read those books, but I do enjoy a celebrity memoir. I read Britney Spears’ and Jessica Simpson’s back to back. I loved Palm Beach (The Breakers!) so I might enjoy Post’s story.

    I feel as though a kid scribbled out that face.

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    1. You would enjoy the Marjorie Post book!

      Maybe one of her own kids scribbled out her face in a moment of disgust? 😉 You know how moms can get on your nerves….

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  11. This is why I love blogging- the comments. I think you could start a regular series posting old pictures and we could come up with stories. I bet that chick slept with someone’s husband. Or wife…😊

    I have the Marjorie Post book on my TBR list. I actually like Demi Moore, so I will check that book out.

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  12. Hahaha that photo is amazing. When I was little my grandma lived next door to a girl my age; my grandma thought we could be friends. I loathed this little girl, her name was Peggy. Anyway, she called my grandma, Grandma, the NERVE of that girl. I mean, probably she was just wanting a grandma to snuggle but still, back off, Peggy. Get your own grandma! Anyway, there was a photo of my grandma flanked by me and Peggy, and Grandma said something to the effect that there she was, with her girls. WELL I NEVER. I took the safety scissors and cut Peggy right out of the picture. I was merciless when it came to my grandma; I was the only granddaughter and lordy, it was going to stay that way.

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  13. I love autobiographies so will definitely check these out. I have heard of Marjorie Post as she was depicted (fictionally) in Seinfeld’s Unfrosted. It’s a bit silly but for my era there is some nostalgia. That scratched out face on the pic is hilarious. Would love to know the story but I think Suzanne nailed it in her comment!

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