How many contests have you entered? How many have you won? How many cost nothing to enter? How many had a fee?
Looking back - all the way to my teen years. I couldn't begin to count the number of contests I've entered. Many with smaller, less expensive prizes, and many more with dream trips, houses and cars. As a teen - I loved the trivia games on the radio and was quite good at them. The first prize I ever won was a hair dryer. I laugh now thinking about it. It came in a zipped hat-box shaped case and was this plastic cap that fit over my head (even with curlers in my hair) - and it had a hose (much like the clothes dryer hose only smaller) - attached to a motor in the case. Plug it in - turn it on and adjust the heat - I used to curl my hair every day.....just to use my awesome hairdryer! I also won a transistor radio - small enough to carry in my hand. The sound was like it was coming through a tin can, poor quality at best - but top of the line in the day! And it was all mine. It went everywhere with me. There were other miscellaneous odds and ends, gift certificates for stores and restaurants mostly. I thought I had the elusive contest-winning gene!!
In later days, when lotteries came about - the dreams of hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars kept me going through some pretty tough times.
I was a young woman in my 20s (29 actually) - with 3 childen and a very sick husband. I was in college, and working a puny job at Burger King. My husband's illness was extended, he was off work for a long period of time with a diminishing sick-leave income, and we were on the verge of losing so much. I played the lottery now and then with our last dollar - in hopes of winning to see us through the tough times. His illness hit very close to the holidays - xmas to be exact. I'd had a lay-away of gifts for the children that was going to be lost - as I couldn't pay for it, and there was not any way for me to shop for toys, food, or a tree this particular year. Things looked pretty grim for us at this time. The lottery I did win at this time was friendship.
The outpouring was tremendous. My neighbor Jane (went by Wilma at that time) - worked for a GI Dr. - when she told them of our hardship - he paid to get my childrens' gift layaway out. I was in nursing school at the time and the entire class came to the house singing christmas carols out front and then - each with a gift in hand - still singing christmas carols one by one bringing the gifts in and stacking them in the house. My brother Bobby took me to get a tree and was going to pay for it to help me out. When he told the man at the tree lot about our hardship - he GAVE us the prettiest tree on the lot free of charge. One of my nursing instructors raised cattle and filled our freezer with beef. One of the nursing students - who I had become close friends with - asked me what each of my children wanted more than anything - I gave her the list - her wealthy mother bought everything on the list for the kids. My husbands co-workers took up a collection which came to $100s of dollars which helped catch up many very over-due bills. The hospital my husband was in put together a wonderful food basket - it was huge - that had all the fixings in it for a Christmas feast. And good friends brought my husband home in their 4-wheel drive truck - IV and all. (It was the dead of winter, and the roads were horrible and deemed too dangerous except for chains and 4-wheel drive). He spent Christmas day with us - on the couch - IV running. The hospital allowed me to care for him for 12 hours so he could be home with his family and we could be together xmas day. All in all - instead of not having a holiday - it was one of the most incredible we ever had. It was like a dream - like a wonderful feel-good story you read about in magazines - and it was our story. Our lottery win.
Time has come and gone since then. My husband recovered, we were together 22 years before going our separate ways. Our children are all grown and some have children of their own.
But I still dream. Every year one of the TV channels builds a dream home and a green home. They give them away, (fully equipped and furnished) in a drawing - along with a vehicle of some sort and sometimes also a large sum of cash (to help pay the taxes?) I enter - every year. I watch the show on TV - showing tours of the homes - showing their perks, views, neighborhoods and beautiful architecture and design. I'll keep entering until I die probably. They're all way too big for me now. But if I won one - I would have something wonderful to leave for my children. And I would definitely enjoy the heck of it while I'm still alive! Most of them are so big - all the boys could live in them!!
I still occasionally play the state and national lottery when the jackpot is some obscene amount of money - and dream of all the things I could do with that money - Helping every one of my kids have better lives - with homes, cars, boats, all sorts of fun things and bank accounts that are comfortably full - and doing all I could for the rest of the family as well. How fun to be Santa Claus! Giving and giving. Surprise! - Yes mam - that house we are showing you - belongs to you......Surprise! Here are the keys to the brand new car out front - a gift from your sister, mother, aunt, great aunt, cousin, second cousin....friend...... whatever my role in their life.... Surprise! You're going on that dream trip - all expenses paid - oh and here's some spending cash.
Yes, a girl can dream.
No comments:
Post a Comment